Sara's Journey
by Sara Irine
Summary: New to Sara's Journey Dead Sara Day! Have fun reading a random filler chappie to break things up! Read and Review everybody! Suggestions will be used!
1. Prologue

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Author's note: I own nothing of the Ragnarok universe. I wanted to do Sara Irine because most of the other ones are about Loki and Fenris hooking up, and because there's so much about Sara that you can guess on. Please be nice to me. This is my first story. I hope you like it. _

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**Prologue:**

"Find her! Find her! Where'd she go?" Angry voices shouted all around the little girl. She clutched the two swords to her chest and heaved silently. _Mommy, why did you have to go? Why did they kill you? Mommy!_

"Where _is_ she? How can one little girl escape us? Find her!" There was thrashing around in the bushes, and the girl shrunk back, biting back a whimper by biting her own lip clear through. She tasted the salty blood, and it caused her to panic even more. She turned from the voices and began to run. Only a few yards away though, one of the men noticed her and called out. _Mommy, oh no. Help me!_ She ran faster, but even so felt a hand on her should in a few minutes. In desperation and fear, she whipped around with the larger of the swords to fend off her attacker. To her surprise… the man looked at her- astonished- grunted, and then fell over dead. She looked at him, shocked herself for one moment, and then her eyes grew hard. _Good. They killed my Mommy, and they were going to kill me._ Then she looked at the sword. It was bloody, so bloody. She never knew that a person could bleed so much from one little stab.

She turned around to run again, and ran into her father–

"Oh, no! No, no, no!"

The girl leapt backwards away from her father, and watched as his face took on a hurt look. _Huh?_ She looked up into her father's face again and saw him smile at her confused look. Maybe she _did_ have it wrong. Her Daddy would never hurt her… would he? She took a step back in his direction and felt the heat of a spell pass by her. 

"Daddy? What are you doing? Why are you trying to hurt me? Where's Mommy?" She gasped and jumped quickly to the side as another streak of magic hurtled past her.

"Don't be afraid, Sara. It doesn't hurt for very long. Just hold still." Her father's voice held her hypnotized as she looked at him. As if she were in a dream state, she watched her father form the words for the spell with his mouth and write the corresponding symbols in the air.

"_Sara. I won't let them kill you._" A voice seemed to come to the girl out of nowhere. Her father didn't seem to hear it, but it was effective in breaking whatever hold the man still held upon his daughter. She shook her head and cleared it quickly before eying the situation in front of her.

"_Sara… You're a bright girl. I taught you well._"

"Mama?" Sara whispered. Could it truly be her mother speaking to her from just beyond the living realms?

"_Yes, dearest. Now listen. Take the spell from your father and make it your own. I want you to attack him with his own spell and then run, dearest. Do you understand me?"_

"Yes, Mama. But why? And where am I going? I have nowhere to go and no one to turn to. The elders will come after me." Sara's heart gave a fearful lurch. The elders were impossibly old… and _ugly_. And for some reason they did not like her. She had tried to avoid them.

"_I will take you to the Goddess Freya. She is in need of someone with your talents, and she will be glad to raise you. Be a good girl for her, Sara._" Sara nodded, tears streaming down her face silently at her mother's words. The Goddess Freya. _Will she help me avenge you, Mama?_

"_Now Sara! Now! Take the spell for your own now!_:" Sara's eyes widened as she looked back to her father. He had just finished the spell, but had yet to release it on her. Sara concentrated, holding onto the bloody sword for focus, and with a scream, sent the spell back at her father. She watched as her father's own eyes widened in shock at the sight of his own spell being directed back at him, and he hastily threw up a shield.

"Odin's Shield!"

"NO!" Sara shrieked, and pushed harder with her will. The spell shattered the shield, and her father flew backwards, hitting a tree before falling to the ground. He rose up slightly on his hands, and Sara could see a scar forming in a cross on his right eye from where the magic had struck him. _It didn't kill him! No, no, no! It was supposed to kill the murderer. Daddy tried to kill me! Why didn't it kill him?_

"Why won't you die? You killed Mommy!" she sobbed.

"_Now, Sara… run. Run to the west; towards Freya, and freedom, and power to avenge yourself... and me. I will stay with you until you are ready._:" Sara's eyes hardened instantly at her mother's words. Yes, she would seek out this Freya. She turned to run, and then remembered her father.

"I'll be back, Daddy… just to get you! You won't get away with killing my mother; you or the elders. The whole city of Fayon will burn for my mother!" _And if Freya does not help me achieve my revenge, I will bury her with the rubble of this city. Death will come to those who cross the name of Sara Irine. Death and despair will come, and people will tremble before my name. Here I come Freya… ready or not!  
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	2. Orders From Above

_Author's note: I own none of Ragnarok or its characters. I hope everybody liked the prologue, and I would appreciate reviews since this is my first story. Many thanks for ideas go to yra (yay!), and here goes with the first actual chapter of Sara's journey. _

**Chapter 1: Orders from above**

Sara Irine woke in a cold sweat. She hadn't thought of that horrible escape from Fayon in a while; she'd been too busy helping Freya bring Ragnarok again. Where had the dream come from? Her eyes narrowed at the thought of her father. _Oh, yes._ She would visit him soon, and then he would know who it was who had taken his spell and thrown his own magic back at him - the magic that had seared that scar onto his eye. She had heard about the scarred lord of Fayon, and how he was powerful, but not for long. Oh, no… not for long. Sara's eyes narrowed at the thought of facing her father again. Her hand involuntarily raised, and a ball of magical fire settled in her palm as her thoughts grew violent and the cold sweat that had clung to her skin immediately evaporated with the heat. But she felt none of it with the rage and hatred that was burning inside of her and every day threatened to be unleashed. So she had practiced long and hard for her father; twelve long years for this next meeting family. Her eyes spat fire as she thought the word. _Family. Hah! What does he know of the word after he makes love to my mother, and then kills her when she becomes inconvenient?_ But Freya had helped her, and Sara was grateful every day to her. Freya had kept the promise that her mother's spirit had made to her.

She rubbed her eyes, and looked about her room blearily. _I'm awake and plotting revenge, and yet I'm still half-asleep. How does that work?_ As she thought this, she noticed that her hand was wet. _Tears? Where did they come from? There haven't been tears in twelve years. If only you could see me now, Mama. Would you be proud of me? I think you would. I will keep my promise, Mama. No matter what. No, no… I mustn't get emotional. Emotions just get in the way and bring problems. Oh, well… time to get moving._

"Sara? Are you up yet? I have a task for you… if you're up to it." Sara stood up straight, ignoring the fact that she wasn't fully dressed and gave her full attention to the sparkle of power in her room. Freya called, and when Freya called, one didn't take one's time in answering.

"Yes, Mistress. I'm here. I've just awakened. What is it that you need me to do?" _And can I do it on my way to visit my father?_ Sara laughed silently to herself sadistically, both knowing that Freya would hear that particular thought, and that she would also feel her willingness to go do this task for her. And just maybe, Freya would approve of her thought and allow her a side stop along the way.

"What is it that the High Goddess Freya seeks?"

"I need you to go and observe someone for me. And if necessary, stop them from retrieving something dangerous to us." Sara's curiosity rose. Who and what were so important that Freya would need her to observe for the moment? And then possibly fight? Freya was not usually so secretive in her conversations with her. _It's best to let her finish. She'll tell me soon where she needs me to go, and what she wants me to do._

"Yes, Goddess. When and where am I going?" Sara's eyes took on an almost wild gleam at the prospect of fights and battles. Much as she didn't look it, she was a warrior of the first class, and lived for the thrill of combat. She was after all, a Valkyrie, but more than that, her spirit was one of those that yearned and ached for battles. This trait had earned her the nickname Vættfang Child (A/N: Vættfang means 'battlefield' in Old Norse). Even though she was the youngest Valkyrie, the majority of the older ones respected her power and skills. Twelve years was a long time, but not in the honing of magical skills. And to come as far as she had… well…

Freya's voice snapped Sara's thoughts back to the present situation abruptly, and Sara berated herself mentally. _Stupid idiot! You should be listening to Freya! After all that she's done for you, and you're daydreaming when she's giving you the honors of a special assignment!_

"I want you to observe Fenris Fenrir for the moment, Sara. The Wolf Goddess has been reincarnated, and at present is searching for Balder's sword, Sentinel Breeze. She cannot be allowed to find the sword. That sword would allow her to find Balder, and as you know, we cannot have that. That insulent brat challenged me last time Ragnarok came around, and I won't have him doing it again. Not if the Wolf Goddess is there to help him. As long as she does not find it, you are not to reveal that you are watching her. If she does happen to find the sword, you _must not_ let her take it and escape. That sword is the key to finding Balder, and we cannot have him turning up again. He almost ruined things last time. Now go. Report to me as often as there is anything to report." Sara turned to dress.

"Oh, and Sara..." Sara turned back towards the spark of power, ignoring her clothes. _May as well start on my hair though._ She began to braid her hair as she answered her Queen.

"Yes, my Queen?" The braid reached nearly to the floor. Twelve years' growth... twelve years' reminder of the sins of her hometown; sins to be repaid.

"Let none of the other Valkyries interfere, especially Deliyyja. I do not want them getting involved with this; they'll only make the situation more complicated than it needs to be. Deliyyja is too power-hungry right now. When this is over, I will see to Deliyyja. Make sure it is understood, Sara Irine, before you take this mission. _ No other Valkyrie is to be involved with the finding of Fenris Fenrir and Sentinel Breeze, or with any encounter with her that might be necessary._ Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Queen. It shall be done as you say. Fenris Fenrir will have no warnings that I am watching unless I need to act, and the other Valkyries will not be informed of my mission. I will head immediately to Jotunheim to gather the frost giants that I will need for this, if it pleases you."

"Excellent. I wish you well then, Sara, and look forward to your reports on the matter. Now go and ready yourself. I am giving you the frost giants for this mission. They should be of great use to you in this. They will do whatever it is that you need of them. Good luck, Vættfang child."

The sparkle of power disappeared, and this time Sara truly did turn to dress (if you could call wearing a bikini with a type of overcoat dressing). She dressed with purpose, putting on clothes first, and then armor. Her clothes were very simple - bikini bottoms with a lacy black bra and boots that were little more than cloth with hard soles with straps that held them to her feet. Her armor wasn't really armor at all, but more of a half-overcoat that had wide striped sleeves and hung down in the back. Her pouch of rune cards hung at her right hip, within easy reach. Last came the two swords from her dream. One was longer than her arm with the end of the blade looking like a wolf with his jaws open and was called Haeryongdo; the other was small and called Shinryongdo and stayed tied at her side and to the back slightly.

Grimly she twisted the wolf-sword in the light. It's blade was diamond-sharp, and she was extremely skilled with it. No bloodstains marred it now, though, unlike during the dream. _My first kill came with this sword escaping from my father. My father will be the next I kill with this, I swear it. But before I do, I will make him watch his family and Fayon burn and die. And he will know who it is who has done this to him, his family, and his city before he takes his last breath._


	3. Interference Begins

_Author's note: I still own none of the Ragnarok series other than the books that I've picked up at Barnes & Noble. I hope everybody liked my first chapter, and here goes my next one. Please review and make suggestions. I'll try to get some of the ideas in the actual story if I can. Sorry that the first chapter was so short. I'll try to rectify that as I go along. Hehe… here we go!_

**Chapter 2: Interference begins**

Sara's runes carried her towards Jotunheim. She leaned back and tried to enjoy the breeze and the journey, but to no avail. She just couldn't relax for some reason. _Why am I so itchy? I just had a battle only a few months ago. Maybe Vættfang Child is a good nickname for me._ For so long she had not understood why they had called her that, but now she was beginning to realize why. And she appreciated it. You might even say that Sara liked the nickname, but just like her nickname, she longed for battles. _Ugh. I need to kill something to get out of this rut._ But there wasn't anything to kill that Freya wouldn't disapprove of later.

"Dammit!" she swore out loud. There wasn't anything that could help her bad mood today. And it wouldn't do any good to kill a frost giant right away because she needed them for this assignment that Freya had given her.

"Double damn!" Her hands began to tremble with frustration. _Mama, I miss you._

Unbeknownst to Sara, the Valkyrie Deliyyja was watching her through the clouds.

"Foolish little girl. You are heading towards a futile mission. Better to let Fenris find Sentinel Breeze and Balder, and then kill him. Or you can deliver Balder bound hand and foot for Freya to torture at her leisure. But never mind that." She stood in her castle and chuckled at the image in the cloudsof Sara Irine clenching her hands as small flames danced around them. _The poor dear has no idea of the lack of importance she holds with her mistress. Really, she doesn't. We Valkyries are expendable to Freya._ Deliyyja turned to the individual next to her, a man by the name of Century.

"I think we are about to have visitors, Century. Would you please have rooms for Mistress Sara readied. You can expect her in roughly six hours. After she arrives, bring her directly to her rooms, but not to me. I want her to wait a little while and stew. That is all." She turned away from her servant.

"Yes, Mistress." Century left his mistress to her thoughts and went about his business making all of the arrangements for Sara's arrival. Sara would have a suite of rooms near his mistress' with all of the amenities of a 'visiting' Valkyrie.

**Shortly thereafter in Jotunheim:**

Sara flew through the air on the shoulders of the frost giant, following the talisman ahead of her. The talisman was leading her towards Fenris Fenrir, having been sent out immediately after Sara and Freya's conversation to track down the reincarnated Wolf Goddess. Below her, Jotunheim was flowing past as they traveled. Part of Sara's mind was on the task ahead while another part was on her dream from the night before. _It was so vivid, like it was happening all over again. Murderers! They'll not get away with it! The whole city will pay, because the whole city betrayed my mother and me._ She silently snarled at the memory. The frost giant below her tensed, as did the others around them, hoping that her fury didn't mean that it had done something wrong. Being who she was, Sara was prone to killing minions who didn't do what they were told fast enough or well enough. But luck was with this frost giant as its mistress's anger was not directed at it.

Suddenly, a bolt of– something traveled past her ear. Sara's teeth showed fiercely in a snarl. _Deliyyja! I should have known she'd be around here!_

"Faster! We don't want to stop here! We must reach Asgard as soon as possible!" But no sooner had the words come out of her mouth than the frost giant below her faltered mid-air.

"Ugh!" the frost giant exclaimed, before falling through the air towards the ground. Sara jumped off the giant's shoulder an instant before it smashed into a pulp on the landscape of Jotunheim. The other frost giants scattered as soon as she left the body of the one giant. _Deliyyja! Where are you? I know you can here this thought! Show yourself!_ Sara's hair flew around her wildly as her anger at the other Valkyrie grew.

"Don't be so angry, _Vættfang_. I'm right here." Deliyyja's figure appeared before Sara. To the normal eye, it seemed as though she had appeared out of thin air, but to those who knew of magical things, it was evident that this was only a sending (a magical hologram of sorts). Sara glanced disgustedly at it. _Typical. Trust Deliyyja not to do her own dirty work._

"You should not have done that, Deliyyja. Freya will not be happy with you interfering with me." She fingered the sword at her side, but then put her hand down. _No, I promised myself that Father would be the next I killed with you, Haeryongdo. I will not break that vow._

"I'm happy to see you too, Sara. It's been too long." There was a short laugh. "Why don't you come by and visit me. Century should be there soon to get you. Do be nice to him, and not live up to your nickname for a change. I'll see you in a little while then." With that, the sending disappeared, and in its place was the servant, Century, that Deliyyja had been talking about. He looked at Sara Irine for a moment, before bowing low and motioning her to follow him. Sara waited a moment, and was pleased to see a flash of annoyance in Century's eyes before it was quickly masked. _Good. He was not expecting someone quite so willful, I suppose. I do think it's prudent to go, though. Deliyyja _is_ powerful, as Freya has even admitted, and I am not sure that I can defeat her yet._

"Yes… Let us not keep Deliyyja waiting." Sara said sarcastically to Century as she moved to follow him."Lead the way, good sir, as I am unfamiliar with this area." She gave Century a light shove in the direction of Deliyyja's castle, and then began walking. A sparkle of power followed them as Century followed Sara, ever two steps behind. Sara sensed it, but said nothing to the servant. She had a feeling that he either had no idea it was there, or that he wouldn't acknowledge its presence. Either way, it was doing no harm, and she was not yet sure whether it was from Deliyyja or not. Until then, the sparkle could stay.

"Century– how long have you served Deliyyja?" The servant stopped in his tracks, surprised by the question as they had been walking for roughly fifteen minutes with no conversation between the two of them.

"I am not sure. It must be almost nine years or more. Why does Mistress Sara ask?" Century was puzzled by the question. He had heard the rumors of Mistress Sara, but many were confusing, and incomplete at that. Many were rumors of her origin, while others were rumors of the horrors that she performed on the battlefield.

"Mistress Sara?"

"Never mind, Century. How long until we reach the castle?"

"Very soon now, Mistress. There has been a suite of rooms prepared for you. Deliyyja wants you to visit for a while. She hasn't seen you since you first became a Valkyrie. Come, please." Century continued on, weaving his way down the path through the forest. Sara watched his back as she followed him, cataloguing his weak points. _Damn, but he doesn't have many; hardly any, in fact. Deliyyja really made sure that he was protected before she sent him to get me._ She was right in this, because Century's protections against Sara screamed of Deliyyja in Sara's sight. Very strong protections that would guard him against all but her most powerful magics. And Sara didn't want to use those magics, because it wasn't worth it for one servant, and she needed to conserve her strength for the task ahead. Intimidation though...

Century nervously fingered the amulets that Deliyyja had given him before he left. He knew that it would protect him from Sara, but he was still nervous. _Vættfang_ was unpredictable… or so he had heard. He hoped that she wouldn't be 'staying' very long at the castle. Maybe Deliyyja was taking on too much with this one. The other Valkyries had well-known powers, but besides being _Vættfang_, Mistress Sara's powers weren't very well defined by her peers. The few that had seen her in action were either sworn to confidence by Freya for some reason or dead after having taken her on. Either way, Century felt that Mistress Sara was extremely powerful, whether she knew it or not, and he felt much better knowing that he was at least somewhat protected from her.

They rounded a bend in the path, and an enormous castle came into view. Sara stared at it in amazement. This castle came close to Freya's in opulence. _Wow... no, no… no amazement_, she admonished herself._ Where's Deliyyja? How dare she do this! She owes me frost giants in exchange for the one she just killed and the others she ran off. She owes me six frost giants._

Once inside the castle, Century took Sara to the suite that would be her rooms.

"Wait here, please. Mistress Deliyyja will send a servant for you when she's ready, Mistress Sara. Feel free to use the hot springs through that door. They're considered to be part of your suite. No one will intrude on your privacy while you are in there." Century moved towards the door out of the suite.

"Century…" Sara stopped him with a hand and a small rune for movement. Century felt his body stop involuntarily. Deliyyja's runes might protect him from harm, but they didn't protect from this type of spell rune. He began sweating.

"Yes, Mistress Sara?"

"I want you to inform Deliyyja that I'm here, and that I want to see her. _Right now_. Understand? Do not disappoint me. I know what amulets and spells she gave you, and I am very capable of getting around them. Now go. I'll expect you back shortly. Oh, and here… a present to make sure that you keep your promise." Sara put a tiny rune card onto the back of Century's neck just below his hairline. Invisible unless you lifted up the hair, it was also invisible to the magical eye unless the person knew _exactly _what they were looking for.

Century knew what was happening, but couldn't do anything about it. The compulsion was so strong that it would take Sara taking it off, or Deliyyja finding it. He seriously doubted the latter though. Century had enough magic in him to know that it was there by the feel of tightness in his mind. He also knew that Deliyyja wouldn't be able to find it, but he couldn't do anything about it himself.

"Yes, _Vættfang_. I will tell Mistress Deliyyja that you wish to see her immediately."

"Good. And remember, Century–" Sara's eyes took on a dangerous gleam. It was very obvious to Century that she hadn't killed in a little while, and that she would welcome the opportunity to do so. He didn't particularly want to be the one ending up dead, so he decided to be very good.

"Mistress?" He was trying very hard to ignore how Sara's fingers had gone to stroking the handle of Shinryongdo, the second of her two swords.

"Do not disappoint me."


	4. Deliyyja

_Author's note: I don't own Ragnarok or any of its characters. Deliyyja and Century are my own creations though. I only came up with the idea for this story after deciding that Sara doesn't get enough credit. Thank you for the review, Rhea-samma! I'm glad you liked it, and no, I don't think that Loki and Fenris don't belong together; they do. I just don't think that some of the other characters get enough limelight. And many thanks again to yra for your unfailing support in my writing process. i hope everybody likes chapter three.  
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**Chapter 3: Deliyyja**

Century hurried out of the room after Sara's warning. Those four words still chilled him through. Odd that they did, though, because to the casual observer, Century would be the likely candidate for dominance. But in this case, Sara's rune, words, and look just before he had left had turned the situation completely inside out. Sara was _supposed_ to be the one that was helpless.

"D…d…deliyyja…" he whispered. But he hadn't reached her yet, so she didn't hear him. "S…s…sara put–" His voice cut off as the compulsion kicked in, and only his mouth would move. Try as he might, every time he tried to get words out about what Sara had done, no sound would come, and after a while, Century gave up trying and just concentrated on getting to Deliyyja as fast as he could.

"_Do no disappoint me."_ The words replayed over and over in Century's mind.

"I'm not." he moaned. Those four words had seemed to come from Sara once again, along with the feel of her gaze, and the sight of her stroking the second sword, Shinryongdo, that rested along her hip. He reached the door of Deliyyja's suite, and went in. Deliyyja was sitting on a chair behind a massive desk reading some reports from some of her spies. She glanced up at him and smiled.

"How is Sara adjusting to her new quarters? Is she taking this as well as we thought she would?" Century gave her a small smile and sat down in a chair in front of his mistress.

"She is– herself. I suggested that she try out the hot springs in the rear section of her suite, and she is currently taking advantage of my suggestion. She has requested to see you immediately, though, as you had predicted. She was quite adamant about it, in fact. What would you like to do? Will you make her wait longer?" Century waited for his mistress's answer. She sat still for a while, thinking silently, and then suddenly leaned back and laughed.

"No. Let us go now and see her, Century. Maybe interrupting her bath will take some of the fire out of our _Vættfang_." Deliyyja got up from her seat, and motioned for Century to follow her. He followed at the same two step distance that he had previously followed Sara. _I hope this is good enough for Vættfang_, he thought as they walked. _She's coming right away, just as you hoped._

They entered Sara's suite, and as expected, Sara didn't immediately come into view. Also seeing her swords absent, Deliyyja and Century continued on to the hot springs just past the bedroom. The steam swarmed around them, thick and white. Century summoned up a small wind to clear it away. But again, Sara was not visible as the steam cleared. Century was slightly baffled. _Where could she be? All of the locks are spelled to keep her inside the suite. And she's never shown an aptitude for teleportation. But even teleportation wouldn't get her very far with Mistress Deliyyja's protections._

"Hello again, Deliyyja. It's _so_ nice to see you." The voice came from behind them. Century spun around, stunned that she had come up so suddenly and quietly. Deliyyja turned more slowly, clearly not startled, or worried.

"Hello, Sara. I'm happy that you were able to join us; it's been far too long." Sara looked at a Valkyrie that even Freya herself did not trust. Deliyyja was petite and slender, with thigh-length dark blue and purple hair set in a multitude of braids wound tightly in threes. Her skin was neither golden nor white, but an odd mixture between the two that was extremely attractive combined with her hair and face. Her face was proportioned to her size, with fine cheekbones and sculptured eyes. She was wearing deep blue leather with tiny magical lightening bolts that ran down the seams. Magical lightning bolts also held her hair in place; in other words, Deliyyja's braids were held in their three-packs with miniature lightning bolts coursing magically in and out of her hair. Leather boots completed her outfit.

"I'm well aware of why you want me here, and I'm telling you Deliyyja… _do not interfere_. You owe me six frost giants. I expect that those will be given to me– now. Thank you for your 'hospitality', but I must be going."

"Hahaha. Your ignorance is very amusing, _Vættfang_. Do you even wonder _why_ the mighty Freya would send you to only observe Fenris Fenrir?" At Sara's startled look, Deliyyja laughed. "Ah, yes. I know about your so-called mission. Freya has many ways to observe people should she decide that they need to be observed. Didn't this _ever_ occur to you?" Deliyyja paused a moment for emphasis before continuing.

"Freya wants you watched. And so you shall be. Right here in my castle, you shall stay as my guest for a while. Enjoy yourself. The servants are here for your every wish, except to maim or kill. I'll leave you now to your devices." Deliyyja turned to leave, but hesitated an instant before turning back to Sara.

"Oh, and _Vættfang_… please try not to destroy my house. I like it, and I'd like to keep it intact for quite a while longer as it is." She gave an impish grin and left the room, her lightening bolts sparking in her hair and on her clothes. Sara stared after her with loathing. _I can't stand her. If only…_ she stopped the thought there, realizing that once again, her hand had stolen to Haeryongdo and was stroking the handle.

"Don't even try it, Sara. You aren't strong enough to beat me yet. Even with your two swords from the constellations. Even Haeryongdo isn't enough to beat me yet."

"What?" Sara tried to play dumb. _Shit! That thought was too strong!_

"Exactly. Keep thinking that, and maybe you'll survive Freya." Deliyyja's voice echoed down the hallway, finally fading from hearing as she went around the corner.

"Arrrgghh!" Sara groaned and turned to the hot springs. She had yet to go in, and was still dressed, much to the confusion of Century, who was still standing in the room. She noticed that he was still there, and turned back on him, furious.

"Get. Out. Of. Here." She flung the first rune that came to her mind at the servant. Century saw the movement and began to hurry from the room as dignified as possible.

"Lotus Freeze!" Century stopped for an instant as the rune took hold in a blast of frozen air before beginning to run again as the magical protections kicked in.

"Damn! Damn Deliyyja's protections! Damn Deliyyja to Hell!" Sara screamed and Century was out the door and running down the corridor, all attempts at dignity forgotten at the memory of Sara's vengeful face as she cast her rune spell on him as he tried to leave. Behind him he could hear Sara's voice shrieking above winds that were sure to be blowing things over everywhere. _My mistress has surely brought herself a spitfire with this one. That rune almost broke through the protections._

"Still… she _was_ magnificent." he murmured to himself. He pictured in his mind Sara at that last minute with fury lighting her eyes almost red, and her anger causing her braid to rise up on its own. Her clothes had risen also in an unconscious reminder to the world that the woman who wore them was very… very… angry. _Magnificent_, he thought again.

"Oh, no, Century. Not again." Century jumped. He had been unaware that his mistress had been standing near him as he had been muttering to himself.

"Mistress?"

"Don't start with me, Century. I hope you're not already drooling over _another_ Valkyrie that has come to visit. What's this got to be, number five in almost a year? If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were an adolescent." Deliyyja was smirking at him. He stared at her in amazement. How had she known?

"Ah, yes. You're wondering how I knew. As always, your thoughts are so transparent Century. You really must learn to guard them more carefully." Her smirk grew wider as her servant's face turned crimson.

"Forgive me Mistress Deliyyja. I had forgotten your lessons." He started at the slight slap that Deliyyja gave him.

"Century! I have told you, and told you… Call me Mistress if you must, but never Mistress Deliyyja. By all the gods, you calling me that makes me feel like my mother! Do I need to send you back in to Sara _without_ the protections for a while and see what happens as punishment? No?" She watched as Century shook his head vehemently. "Good."

She smiled slyly at Century suddenly.

"Are you _positive_ that you don't want to go back in there without the protections? You know that those spells protect from _any_ physical contact whatsoever. Just taking off a few would let you–" she squealed as Century tickled her before she could finish her sentence. The other servants around them paid no notice to their antics. While rare, they were used to seeing Century at times behave like this towards Deliyyja. And while nothing ever came of the playful flirting between mistress and servant, the two enjoyed it nonetheless.

"Ingrate. After all that I'm offering you."

"Thank you, but no. I'm more likely to get my head chopped off by one of her swords than anything else… _Mistress Deliyyja_." Century laughed low in his throat as his mistress's mouth opened to scold him, but then closed.

"I suppose I deserved that."

"It's not my place to say, Mistress." Deliyyja pulled Century along with her as she began walking down one of the lesser used hallways of the castle. This part of the castle was her private domain, and of the servants, only Century had been into the rooms beyond the hallway.

"Oh, but I'm sure that you would have plenty _to_ say if it were your place, Century. Never mind though. We're going to let our precious _Vættfang_ stew a little while over our conversation. You know – see what she comes up with after reviewing it a few times in her head. Maybe she'll be in a better mood. By the way… had she used the hot springs yet when we went in?"

"No, Deliyyja. She was still fully dressed in her travel clothes."

"Pity. But no matter. No doubt she's using them by now to sooth her aching muscles after she was forced off of her frost giant that I killed. Alright, Century. Let's go finish our other business matters. We'll need those done before Sara gets done figuring out how to get out of her room and get to us. And not to worry… she will. That's the kind of person she is."

"How can you be so sure? The last Valkyrie took over a month to figure out the protections on those rooms. And by that time the Valkyrie was almost insane."

"Yes, but she was already half-insane to begin with. We just helped her along. Sara is completely sane, if not a little mad." Century gave a snort of disbelief. Weren't insane and mad the same thing in this context? Deliyyja shook her head at him. _He'll learn when it's too late. Much too late, unfortunately. Ahh, Century poor boy._ She giggled at the sudden thought of Century trying to woo Sara Irine. The gods would definitely have a sick sense of humor if they destined those two to be paired in life. Century shot her a suspicious look at her burst of giggles.

"What is so amusing about a Valkyrie going insane, or being slightly mad, Mistress?"

"No, no… I wasn't thinking about that, Century. I was thinking about how the gods would definitely have a sick sense of humor if they paired you with the _Vættfang_ for life instead of a good girl that you deserve. A very sick sense of humor indeed." This repetition of thought into speech brought about a whole other fit of giggles, one of which Century had not seen in a long while. _But not at the expense of me_, he thought.

"Ah, I see now. You are jealous, Mistress. I am sorry." Deliyyja's head came up at that, and her giggles ceased. Century took pride in that fact. "I will try harder in the future to spend more time with you, and no time with Mistress Sara. She doesn't deserve me and you a wholly deserving of more than me, but as you are jealous, I will gladly give myself to you." He teasingly kissed the back of her hand, not actually daring to do more than that, but his mistress's reaction was more than he could have ever hoped for.

"_Excuse me_? What did you say, Century?" Century grinned, and Deliyyja gave him a shove.

"Nothing at all, Mistress– just seeing if you were paying attention. You're going to need all of your senses to deal with Mistress Sara, I believe. You should have seen the temper that she was just beginning to show after you left. It was frightening." He shuddered at the memory that was mere minutes old. His mistress ignored the reaction and continued on her way.

Deliyyja pushed open one of the many doors in the hallway, and led the way inside. The room that the door led to was uncharacteristic of what one would expect for the great Valkyrie Deliyyja to inhabit. Instead of dark colored walls were walls bursting with color to offset the harsh and bleak Jotunheim landscape. There were a multitude of colorful creatures in the room also. Birds with jewel-like feathers talked quietly to tiny mystical creatures from the far south of Midgard while tiny lizards flew around Deliyyja's head, slowly massaging it.

"Ahhh… finally. A place with peace and quiet." Deliyyja's sigh was one of pure bliss. _Sara is definitely going to be a handful. I just hope that she isn't too stubborn for her own good. Her mother was, from what I hear. But I guess we'll see._

"Mistress? Is everything alright? Do you need me to get some tea or something else?" But Deliyyja just shook her head and continued to relax.

"Mmmm. Nothing right now, Century. Just sitting here in this room is medicine for me. This room gives me strength, lets me rejuvenate."

"Yes, Mistress. Is there _anything_ you need me to do at the moment?"

"No, Century." Deliyyja gave a shake of her head, momentarily dislodging the flying lizards, who protested in tiny squeaks. "You can go to bed if you'd like. Or perhaps Sara wou–" but she got no farther as she heard the door close after Century's hurried exit from the room. Deliyyja laughed.

"Poor boy. He has no sense of humor." She waved the flying lizards away. "Okay guys, enough. Thanks for everything. Go have some fun for a while. And stay away from the Valkyrie Suite. We have another one visiting, and she's _moody_." The lizards flitted away chittering among themselves excitedly.

"Yes, yes, I know. They're _always_ moody when they get here. But I think this one just comes that way. It's best to stay away until she calms down. Come to think of it… how long _do_ you think it will take for her to calm down?" she mused to herself. One of the birds in the room gave a squawk.

"A day or two? No. I think more like a week. Hopefully Fenris Fenrir will not have found Sentinel Breeze by then. I do plan on letting Sara go, but not until we've had a good long chat about some things."


	5. Sara In the Meantime

_Author's note: I own none of Ragnarok or its characters, but Deliyyja and Century are mine. Many thanks to yra for her continuing support and ideas. Oh… and I liked the way you put my neck cracking in the latest chapter of your story, _Out of the Abyss_. I'll try not to do that so much in the future. This chapter takes place while Century is heading towards Deliyyja. Sorry if it's kinda confusing in the storyline part, but this is where it belongs._

**Chapter 4: Sara In the Meantime**

Sara raged at the walls after Century left.

"I hate Deliyyja! I hate her, I hate her!" She picked up a vase that was sitting on an end-table and flung it against the wall. The resulting crash didn't make her feel better; it did make her want to destroy more things though. She looked around and spied another vase.

"…hmph." She picked that one up as well and threw it at the same place she had thrown the other one. She screamed in triumph and rage as it hit the wall and shattered, spraying pieces of porcelain everywhere with the force. She continued to pick up things around the room at random, flinging them at walls, the floor, ceiling, and other objects. It no longer mattered if they broke, just as long as she could throw it and it hit something. After exhausting her available array of objects to throw, she began throwing spells, shredding fabric and rending wood. Wind runes were added to the mix and she had a veritable hurricane in her room, ruining what Deliyyja had wanted to stay _nice_. After a little while she ran out of things to destroy so she just stood there and looked around, chest heaving as the runes died. The room was in shambles.

She tried to calm herself down as she walked slowly around the room, examining her handiwork. The bed no longer looked like a bed. The coverings were shredded from magic, and all of the vases and ornamental objects broken from being thrown against the walls or other objects themselves. The bed frame was splintered and ripped apart by the magic that she had flung around after exhausting her supply of breakable objects.

"Ugh. There's nothing else to break. Might as well take a bath and figure out how to get out of here. Freya's not going to be happy with the delay, so the shorter the better." _And the sooner I can break Deliyyja's neck for keeping me here and interfering,_ she thought.

Sara went through the double doors that led to the hot springs and walked to the benches lining them. She took off her two swords and laid them carefully on the wood before undressing and stepping into the water. She hissed between her teeth as her legs touched the steaming water, but before she had gone even a foot into the baths, she jumped completely in, forgoing a slow entry.

"Ahhh…" she expelled the breath on a long sigh of pleasure. _I know I should be focusing on revenge right now, but this just feels… so… good!_ She relaxed in the water for a few more minutes, floating on her back, and just enjoying the feel of the warmth sliding down her arms to her back and along her legs. After those few minutes though, she gave up on relaxing and washed quickly before dressing once again. Bikini… soft armor… overcoat… swords. The same old routine.

"Deliyyja… can you hear me? I'm sure you can. Why don't you answer me, Deliyyja?" Sara spoke into the silence, sure that the other Valkyrie was listening. And if Deliyyja was listening, she would answer. Oh, not by coming herself, but surely by a speaking spell.

"Why hello, Sara." Deliyyja's voice boomed in the air. "Are you finding your suite comfortable? I hope so. The little ones went to much trouble to get it ready for you. They thought of every possible amenity that you might need. Is it satisfactory?" Sara's fists clenched at Deliyyja's condescending sound.

"Why, yes, _of course_." Sara said sarcastically. "Why, the bed is a mess and none of the things in my room are in one piece. Of course it's satisfactory." Sara felt something running down her fingers and looked at them. _Blood? Hmm… when did that happen?_ She looked at Haeryongdo, realizing that she had been clenching the blade in her hand, not the hilt. _Well… what did I expect? Haeryongdo does cut through stone._ She giggled a little as she watched the blood continue to flow down her fingers, holding her hand up in front of her face. Adrenaline was kicking in, and she ignored the wound, concentrating instead on the fluid coming from it.

"Sara? Are you still there? You didn't hurt yourself when you destroyed the room, did you?" Deliyyja's voice broke through her fascination. _Awww… leave me alone._ Sara made a face as she continued studying her hand.

"I'm still here, Deliyyja. And I'm perfectly alright. Now, down to business before your minion gets back to you. Why am I here? You should know better than to interfere with Freya. By the gods! You serve her! Why are you doing this? Do you _want_ to die?" Sara resumed studying the blood, absently fumbling in her rune pouch for something to stifle the bleeding. Red was such a pretty color…

"As I mentioned earlier before you kicked us out, Fenris Fenrir, Sara. Why would Freya send a mighty Valkyrie to simply _watch_ Fenris Fenrir? She has dozens of spies that she could send to do that if she only wanted somebody watched. No… Fenris must frighten Freya somehow, and I think she means for you to kill Fenris. After she leads you to Balder, of course."

"Be careful how you speak about Goddess Freya, Deliyyja! She will not tolerate this!" Sara's voice rose with each indignant word. How _dare_ Deliyyja speak like this about Freya, Sara's foster-mother! Freya would not stand for it, and neither would Sara. Freya didn't have to take in Sara all those years ago, but she had. And no one was going to mock her! Sara's hand at her rune pouch stopped its quest for a healing rune and rose up to take Haeryongdo from the other hand, clenching it. Instantly, it began to bleed from the cut the blade made into the palm of her hand. Sara looked down in surprise, then walked over to the ruined bed and set down the sword. She held up her hands and put them together, and the blood ran in rivulets down her arms.

"Oh, come off it, Sara. Freya isn't going to be hurt one tiny little bit because I noticed her little plan. She _might_ be a little disappointed that I pointed it out to you and ruined her fun, but not hurt. And it's not going to ruin anything, because I agree that Fenris could be a problem, and most likely will be if we let her get away. But…"

"Oh, don't you 'but' me, Deliyyja! I'm tired now, and I don't want to hear your theories. You stay out of my business and you won't get hurt. I don't think Century would like it very much if I would have to hurt you. So let's not make me do that." Sara's arms were now a brilliant red. As she looked at her arms, she felt a spark of power in the rooms. _Hmmm… what have we here? Not quite as powerful in the disembodied speaking area as I thought. What can we do about that?_ Sara looked at her arms, and then reached with two bloody fingers into her runes. Pulling out a rune, she flung it at the place where the power signature was.

"_Vættfang_ Control!" she shouted.

In her office, Deliyyja was flung back into her seat. She sat there, gasping for breath.

"Yes, she's definitely our _Vættfang_. Spirited. Gives her power something extra. Just what I need. Hmm…" She chuckled to herself. _Yes, yes. My plans for Sara are just beginning. Now, where is Century? He should be here by now._ She sat there for a second.

"Oh, no. Not again, Century. Where is that man?" Deliyyja counted on her fingers. "Five, four, three… two…" the door opened, and in rushed Century. She smiled at him.

"Hello Century…"


	6. Flashback to the Past

_Author's Note: I own none of Ragnarok… yes we all know. And I'm so sorry yra about Deliyyja, but don't spoil for the rest of the readers who don't have insider info. But now we're back to the normal timeline of the story. Sorry for the confusion. Deliyyja is going to become a larger part of this story for the moment, so this chapter focuses on her. Enjoy and please review!  
_

**Chapter 5: Flashback to the Past  
**

Century left the room and Deliyyja sat back in her chair, thinking. She thought back to her brief conversation with Sara before coming to this room, and then to the ridiculously short conversation that had ended with Sara throwing a rune spell at her. _Genius child. Very good, Vættfang, finding the source of my speaking spell and following it back with your own spell._ Deliyyja mused over Century as well. The man was behaving differently this time. What was going on here? She didn't think truly that he had a crush on _Vættfang_, but one could never be sure at times with him. And his teasing…

"What to do, what to do? I could always just tie her up and explain things to her. But _Vættfang_ would never listen, and more than likely she would blast her way out of the bindings. So that doesn't work." Deliyyja grimaced. "Crap. Or… I could drug her and use 'Suggestibility', but that's dangerous on somebody as powerful as she is. It probably wouldn't even work. And if it did, it probably wouldn't work right. Crap again."

Deliyyja got up and began pacing around the room. The little flying lizards that she had shooed away earlier looked up at her from where they had landed. They almost seemed to be saying, 'Should we give you another massage? You look stressed.' She smiled tightly at them and continued pacing. She tugged on one of her braids and felt the lightning bolts course around her fingers as she did. Pretty as they may be, the lightning bolts in her hair weren't just for decoration; they were also potent weapons. Her eyes misted over as she remembered one such instance when her hair had helped her.

_**Begin flashback:**_

_Deliyyja Talistra walked down the street to the local bar, linked arm and arm with her friend, Mintu. _

"_Is this gonna be the greatest surprise or what? Sella's gonna fall over from shock!" She chortled as Mintu nodded, and then slipped. Deliyyja giggled as Mintu struggled to get back on her feet._

"_You know, we've only been to two barrsh, Del. Sella's gotta buuyy meee a dwink at this one. …riiight after I dance for him!" Mintu slurred her words drunkenly. Deliyyja gripped her more tightly and pulled her up next to her, steadying her before starting towards the door of the bar. The man at the door gave them a strange look, but waved them in._

"_Hehe. Hey, Del… I thiiiink he liikesh you. Whattya say? Hmmm?"_

"_I say you're drunker than I am, Mintu. And I say that you can't see straight. He gave you a weird look cause when you went to wave at him, you almost fell over."_

_"Whatever. You shee Sella yet? I wanna tell him congrats." Mintu waved her hand over her head in an exaggerated manner. Deliyyja sighed and shook her head, her long hair swishing down her back almost to her knees. Mintu drunk was always a force to be reckoned with. She ran her fingers through her hair swiftly before taking a stance behind Mintu and gripping her shoulders. Pushing her ahead of herself, Deliyyja steered Mintu towards a booth and sat her down in it._

_"Stay here while I find Sella. Then you can give him that dance. Okay?"_

_"Shure thing, Del. Anything you shay."_

_"Good then. I'll be right back. Don't move, 'cause you'll just fall over." She received a sloppy grin from Mintu and a hard slap on the back before heading out into the crowd. She thought that Sella would probably be by the bar, but she couldn't be sure, so she headed there first. True to character, there he was, in line for drinks, and shouting at the harassed bartender for more ale._

_"Hey man! Come on over here!" Deliyyja walked up behind Sella and covered his eyes with her hands._

_"Guess who?" she whispered next to his ear._

_"A goddess?"_

_"No. The voice isn't resonant enough. Try again"_

_"A dancing girl?"_

_"Wrong again." She took her hands off of his eyes, and as she did, Sella reached up and grabbed her wrist. Yanking her wrist, Sella pulled her against him in a giant hug._

_"Deliyyja! I missed you! You and Mintu were supposed were supposed to be here an hour ago! Where have you been?" Deliyyja had the good graces to look embarrassed._

_"Mintu dragged me to two other bars before this one. She's determined to dance for you, and for you to buy her a drink. Seriously Sella... I think if you buy her another drink, we'll be able to squeeze her and ale will come out of her." She made a squeezing motion. "Like a sponge, you know."_

_Sella laughed at the mental image of squeezing Mintu out like a sponge._

_"Come on. Let's go find Mintu. I'll buy her something small and watery." He stood up and slung an arm around her, and they waltzed over to the booth where Mintu was busy staring at her fingernails with a stupid grin on her face. She looked up as they walked over and her grin widened._

_"Hey Sella!" Mintu made an awkward jump at him and he let go of Deliyyja's shoulder to catch her._

_"Careful or we'll have to explain to your mother why your face is all messed up tomorrow."_

_"Don' worry about it. Don' worry abou-" Mintu went limp as she passed out._

_"I guess you don't have to buy her that drink after all, Sella." She grinned at her friend, and then glanced down at their fallen comrade._

_"I guess not. Let's take her home. Do you want to come back, or just go home? I'm assuming that you guys have been out for a while."_

_"Why don't we just all go home, because you're right, and I have to help Mama tomorrow at the shop. She's not gonna want me grumpy with a headache."_

Deliyyja paused on her trip down memory lane before things got ugly. She missed Sella and his good-natured fun. She missed Mintu also. Those were the days when she had been so carefree; before she had become what she was now... a Valkyrie. Valkyries had no place for friends, and their old friends knew it.

A little lizard came up to her and held out a droplet.

"What's this?" It squeaked at her. "What? A tear? Oh, my. I must really be stressed out." It squeaked again. "Very well. You can give me another massage if you would like." Deliyyja sat back down in her chair as the little lizards went back to work, soothing the stress out of her head. Odd, but they were one of the few things unaffected by her lightning.

**_Continue flashback: _**

_The next day, Deliyyja woke up feeling sick, but ignored it. She had to help her mother, and she was sure that Mintu was feeling _much _worse. She worked with her mother all day, but felt no better at the end of it. In a move to try to feel better, she went over to Sella's._

_"Hey, mind if I come in?" Sella looked surprised to see her. "What's the matter, Sella?"_

_"Oh, ah... nothing. Sure, come on in." He stood back and held the door open for her. "What's up?"_

_"Nothing much. You feeling okay?"_

_"Yeah. Why? You not feeling too good? Drink too much last night?" He smiled at her._

_"No, actually. But for some reason I'm not feeling right. It's like my heads going to explode. I don't know what it is, and my hair has been acting weird." Sella raised his eyebrows. _

_"Touch it." she told him. He reached out with one hand and touched her hair, yelped, and then snatched his hand back to his chest. Cradling his hand, he stared at her._

_"What was that?"_

_"I don't know, but it's making my head hurt. What should I do? I didn't want to talk to Mintu 'cause she's probably got a hangover, and she doesn't give very good advice anyways." Sella laughed at that. _

_"You are right about that. Her advice reeks. I think you should go to the village mages. They'd know what's going on with you." Deliyyja considered this, and then nodded._

_"You're right about that. Maybe they can take away this infernal headache. Poor Mama is watching the store by herself right now. She could see that my head was killing me and told me to go figure out how to cure it. So here I am. I guess I'll see you later then." She got up and hugged Sella, not noticing that he pulled back quickly and that he was red in the face when he did._

_"Yeah. I'll see you later. Bye Del."_

_"Bye Sella." Deliyyja walked out the door and made her way slowly to the mages' guild in the village. She spent the rest of the afternoon there, and when she left, her headache was gone, and she was happy. She bounced into her house and hugged her mother, father, and baby brother. They stared at her in amazement before asking her what was going on._

_"Mama... I'm going to be a mage."_

_"WHAT?" Her mother reached out to her and touched her hair, which had been redone into many little braids._

_"I went to the mages' guild today to get them to take away my headache, and they told me I have power, Mama. Power with the weather. They said that's why my hair was sparking, Mama, and why I had the headache. They braided my hair to keep away the headaches." She smiled at her family and twirled before them, showing off her new braids. They swung out behind her in a giant black mass. She also showed them a silver medallion that showed she was an apprentice of the guild._

_"Deliyyja, sweetie... there's _lightning _in your hair. Is this part of it, too?"_

_"Yes, Mama. They told me to come tomorrow, and I'll begin my training. Just think, Mama. I can make sure that our village always has rain when it needs it, or sun for a wedding!" Her mother looked less than pleased, though. In fact, she looked a cross between frightened and angry. _

_"Don't worry, Mama." she continued, oblivious to her mother's unvoiced concerns, "I'll make you proud. I'll take care of you." She twirled around again, and then skipped around them to her room. _

_She was going to be a _mage!

_Later that night, she went to tell Mintu the news. When she did, Mintu squealed, and jumped around her._

"_I can't believe this! You're gonna be a mage! By the gods, you're gonna be famous, and you'll get invited to palaces! You'll be rich!"_

"_Mintu–" but her friend was still talking._

"_And your parents will have one of those really nice chairs… with servants!"_

"_Mintu…"_

"_What?"_

"_Let's go out tonight and celebrate!" Deliyyja grinned at her friend, and Mintu whooped._

"_All right! Partee!" Mintu danced around the room, eventually grabbing Deliyyja and pulling her into the craziness, too. They were both breathless and laughing when they finally collapsed on the floor. After a few seconds of sitting there, exhausted, Mintu pulled Deliyyja up off the floor._

"_We've gotta get ready. Let's go!" So for the next half an hour, Deliyyja was poked and pulled by her friend to get her ready. Finally, when Mintu was satisfied with her, they left her house and made their way to Sella's. Opening his door, Sella stared at them._

"_What happened to you two? And Deliyyja… what happened to your hair? Not that it looks bad – it looks good, but what happened?" The girls smirked at him, and Mintu motioned for Deliyyja to explain._

"_Okay Sella… you know how I wasn't feeling very good this morning? Well… I went to the mages' guild like you suggested, and they told me that I have power. I'm going to be a mage!" Sella looked at her in surprise._

"_Wow. That's awesome! Yeah, let's definitely go out tonight to celebrate. Just give me a few minutes to get ready and we'll go out." He had them sit down and went to his room. He returned a few minutes later, ready to go._

Deliyyja stopped again to rub her eyes. Oh yeah had they partied. In fact, they had partied for a straight five nights in a row. She would go to the mages during the day, and then celebrate with her friends at night. And she could still see her mother's disapproving look every night that week when she had told her that she was going out.

One of the birds brought Deliyyja a note from a servant. She took it from its claws.

"Thank you, Aope." Opening the note, she read, and then slowly smiled. _So, Vættfang has finally calmed down enough to think._

"Okay guys. Count down. I think we have just about three days until our Valkyrie gets out of her rooms." The animals around her looked up in alarm, and she reassured them. "Yes, yes… but I warned you about this one. She's _moody_. Anyways, I have three days thereabouts to figure out how to get her to listen to reason." The lizards bobbed their heads and went back to massaging her head, bringing her thoughts back to Sella and Mintu… and the past.

_**Continue flashback:**_

_On the fifth night out, Mintu disappeared on Sella and Deliyyja. When they couldn't find her after an hour, Sella and Deliyyja looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They both knew that she'd found some guy, and would be occupied for the rest of the night._

"_So, any idea of what we should do for the rest of the night? I mean, it's not that late." Deliyyja sighed. "Mintu's really on a roll tonight. At least last night she didn't disappear until at least dawn."_

"_Yeah, yeah. But hey, Del… about all this mage stuff."_

"_Yes? Is it too weird? 'Cause I know that mom and dad aren't too thrilled with it. But you don't need to worry, 'cause I'll always be a good person." She touched his hand. "Really, Sella. I mean it."_

"_I know you do, Del. But it's already changed you. Your hair is different, and you're so much more– I don't know how to describe it. But maybe it's showy. You have to be out in a crowd now, showing yourself off in some way." Deliyyja started to protest, but Sella stopped her. "No, I don't think you know you're doing it. It's just unconscious after spending a week with the mages. Because with what they do, they're constantly in the limelight, and most learn to love it." Deliyyja felt her eyes tear. _

"_Sella…"_

"_Sorry, sweetie, but it's the truth. I don't think that you'd ever do anything wrong with what you have though. You're too nice." He gave her a hug. "Don't sweat it. Mintu needs some competition anyways." She laughed at that, feeling a little bit better._

"_Okay then… let's finish partying tonight then, and tomorrow I'll start training and stop playing." She took a long drink of the ale in the mug that she had in her hand. Sella joined her, and together they drank for the next couple hours and talked about nonsense and Mintu's weird ways._

_Two hours later, Deliyyja left alone due to the fact that Sella had had to leave early to pick up a stranded Mintu. After assuring him that she was coherent enough to make her own way home, Deliyyja had let Sella go after their friend. So now here she was, walking down the dark street by herself, fingering her new braids, and enjoying the feel of the lightning playing around her fingers._

"_Give me your money, lady, or you won't have any more worries in your life." The voice came from behind her, and Deliyyja realized belatedly that she had been so absorbed with her thoughts that she had completely missed the soft sounds of the man sneaking up behind her._

"_I… I don't have any money. Well… not much." She reached with trembling hands to her waist-pocket. She had just about five zeny left after the bar; about enough for a handful of peanuts at a market stand. _

"_Stop… don't even think about moving, lady. I'll take the money, and you just keep those pretty little hands of yours in the air." She did as he said and kept her hands in the air, but her fear was quickly turning to anger. How _dare_ he rob her! Abruptly though, the robber stopped looking for her money, and noticed that Deliyyja was very attractive._

"_Say, honey, how's about you and me go someplace quiet and alone, and have us a special time? I really like this hair of yours. It's unique, you know? Pretty." He reached out to touch her hair, and Deliyyja concentrated on the most basic spell that she had been taught: Lightning Flash._

"_Lightning Flash!" she screamed to the heavens, and her hair erupted in a brilliant flash of white light, the lightning traveling down it, and through her attacker. He stiffened for a moment before going still and falling over. She looked at him, then bent over to feel his pulse. Dead. She stumbled backwards, in shock. Forgetting about the money, she turned and ran home, going straight to her room. _

_Locking herself in her room, Deliyyja didn't come out for almost a whole week. No matter who tried to get her out, no matter who called, or what they said, she didn't answer or open her door. They ended up knocking down the door to get her out, and found her sitting on her bed, crying. Her mother went to her._

"_Dearest, what's wrong?"_

"_Mama… I killed someone." Her mother drew back in horror, and Deliyyja started to cry all over again. "I didn't mean to Mama! He just started to rob me, and other stuff, so I used a spell that the mages had taught me to get him to go away… but it killed him!" She hiccupped, and continued to sob. Her mother regained her composure and pulled her into her arms._

"_There, there Del. It'll be alright. You'll see."_

_But it wasn't alright. Barely a day later, a mage from the guild came to her and took back her silver medallion. She stared at him while he did it, and then started shaking after he left. That night, she had a dream that a goddess was coming for her; to take her away from here and teach her to be more powerful than even these mages could even dream about being. The next morning, she walked around in a daze, wondering if it had been just a dream, or if it was a vision. The dream and this thought occupied her as she walked around, so she didn't notice when a portal opened in front of her and a gorgeous woman stepped through it._

"_Deliyyja Talistra?" Deliyyja looked up._

"_Hmm? Who is it? What do you want?"_

"_I know you had a dream about me, and I'm here to make that dream a reality. I'm here to offer you power beyond your wildest dreams. Would you like it, Deliyyja Talistra?" The woman held out her hand, and Deliyyja stared at it, uncomprehending. Then she remembered the woman from her dream who would do the same thing to her, just before giving her enormous power._

"_Freya?"_

"_Yes. Now, if you come with me, I can give the training to make these other mages' powers seem like fireflies in front of a wildfire compared to yours." Deliyyja stared at that hand for a minute more, before shyly taking it. Freya pulled her close and hugged her. "Now, you truly will be great."_

Deliyyja's thoughts stopped there and she waved the lizards away.

"That's enough again. My head feels much better. These braids grouped in threes help even more than just the braids." Deliyyja continued talking to herself, because somehow it just felt good to say it out loud. These were topics that she had never voiced to anyone, not even Century, who was her closest confidant. _I wonder if I'll ever be able to trust Sara with this knowledge. Hmmm… maybe this is the stuff that will change her mind about Freya._

"I know I serve Freya, but after all these years, I've discovered that Freya doesn't really care for the Valkyries. She could find as many more of us to train as she wanted. The ones she has now are just convenient, but still expendable. But how do I make Sara realize that?"


	7. Power Sparkle

_Author's Note: I own nothing of the Ragnarok series. I think the most I own are books one through eleven that have come out in the stores… I'm just waiting for number twelve. Waiting for what seems an eternity… blah blah blah. Many thanks to yra for calling me a dork when I need it and when I say I like your story (:p ) and to Triggerhappy Sniper. I like reviews, and I'm just wondering who Sara needs later on in the story… I'm just not sure that Chaos is the right person. We'll have to see how it goes; maybe she will steal him away from her sister eventually. But anyways, there is some Norwegian in this chapter. The grammar's probably not right and I'm sorry, but I provide translations, so bear with me._

**Chapter 6: Power Sparkle  
**

Deliyyja sat there after her reminiscing for a while, massaging her own head, just thinking. _Think, think, think,_ she ordered herself. _How do I make Sara believe me? That girl is just so stubborn about some things!_ She stood up and paced around the brightly colored room.

"Aope." The bird flew to her quickly, anticipating an errand. She held out her hand and the bird landed on it, gracefully folding its wings beneath it.

"Aope, I need you to take this message to Century for me. He's going to have to go and talk to Sara again. I know he won't want to, but he still has the protections, so he'll be alright. Come right back to me after you're done. I'll have something waiting for you." She gave the note to Aope, and he flew off, going towards the wall on Deliyyja's right. Just when it seemed that he would run into the wall, he disappeared into a hidden passageway. Barely big enough for the bird, this passageway was part of a network that was used by the little lizards and birds and multitude of creatures that Deliyyja kept in her castle.

Sella and Mintu flashed through Deliyyja's mind; Sella especially. She could still hear him talking to her in the bar all those years ago, '…_it's already changed you. Your hair is different, and you're so much more– I don't know how to describe it. But maybe it's showy. You have to be out in a crowd now, showing yourself off in some way._' She touched her hair and thought about how she'd colored it with streaks of purple in defiance of Freya. Freya had laughed when she'd seen it and commended her on her ingenuity.

"_It's very difficult to get magicked hair to stay a different color than the one it was naturally. Well done, Deliyyja. Well done indeed._" Deliyyja sighed and tried to calm down. Getting upset wouldn't help the situation. She needed to be calm to confront Sara Irine, _Vættfang_ of the Valkyries. But even as she told herself this, the little lightning bolts were moving ever faster through her hair, causing it to lift up. Finally, she clamped her hands down over her hair and ran through the door into the hallway. Turning to the right, she went down the hallway, into another room, through a maze of doors and ended up what looked like a mirror image of the hot springs in Sara's suite. She raced to the springs and jumped in, clothes and all. The lightning died.

"Ahhh…" This spring was so much different from Sara's. Instead of just plain water, the water in Deliyyja's hot springs wouldn't conduct electricity, and so her sparks would die. In fact, these hot springs wouldn't conduct any type of magic but elemental energy, and Deliyyja had only met a handful of people who could wield the cosmic forces. And those people always burned out after a couple of years of handling the awesome energies. But she had managed to find one of those rare people susceptible to 'persuasion' a few years ago, and had had this spring made especially for her. It was a gods-send in times like these when other Valkyries were being difficult. She relaxed some more and then realized that she was still fully clothed.

"Oops. Can't have that. What'll the little ones say?" She undressed to her underwear and then enjoyed simply _feeling_; but never forgetting about her current predicament. Until this was resolved, it wouldn't do to forget that Sara was here and dangerous if underestimated.

* * *

Sara sat down on the ruined bed looking at her handiwork. She looked from the room to her hands, finally paying attention to the fact that she was still bleeding. 

"Damn. I'd better do something about that." She reached with two fingers into her rune pouch and pulled out a healing rune. Concentrating, she rubbed those same two fingers down the rune seven times.

"_Jeg kaller til De, av løpene_…_hør min bønn og gjør min vilje_." (I call to you of the runes… hear my plea and do my will)

The cuts from Haeryongdo were healed, leaving her arms and hands bloodied but like new. The rune flared as her body was restored, then burst into flame and burned to cinders before falling through her fingers to the floor. She watched the ashes drift on the air currents, lazily making their way slowly down, before finally resting on the ground. She stomped on them, making sure (for some unknown reason) that none would start a fire in the room.

"Now I suppose that I'd better go take another bath. The last one didn't do me any good. The stink of blood isn't going to go away until I wash my clothes, either. Damn. This stink is gonna bring every scavenger within a hundred miles if I don't get this off of me, and I don't have the time to fight them off." She grimaced and moved towards the hot springs.

The hot springs welcomed her once again, and Sara took her time going back in, bringing her clothes in with her. She stood half in and half out of the water, washing her garments, and then got out briefly to lay them out before fully submerging herself in the warm, bubbly water. She paused briefly as she sensed that same sparkle of power she had that morning when she had first been 'invited' to Deliyyja's castle; the one that had followed Century and her all the way from the meeting point. _Hmm… I wonder…_

She rolled over under water and swam lazily along the bottom of the springs, all the while thinking of the sparkle of power. _It could be Deliyyja, but I doubt it. I don't think that she would do something so foolish after I just traced her power signature back to her. Hmmm…_ Sara slowly drifted from the bottom to the surface. Leisurely raising her hand above the water, she sent a passive spell towards the power sparkle.

"F_inn en skaper... ødelegger et liv_ (find a maker… ruin a life), _finn sjelen... gir meg kraften finne kilden_ (find the soul... give me the power to find the source)." The spell shot towards the power sparkle, and Sara leaned back again in the water. She listened as the spell moved and could tell the exact moment it encountered the sparkle. There was a slight crackle before her spell fizzled out.

"So it's somebody with some power at least. Deliyyja would have been weakened somewhat by my last attack. I still think I need to do something about that though." She shook her head. _It's not good having it there, watching me, when I don't know who it is, and why it's here. But how do I distract it so it can't follow me?_" She floated on her back, gliding along the water for what seemed like hours, pondering over her dilemma.

Half an hour later, she stood up, and looked at her body. _I look like a prune._

"Oops. I stayed in longer than I thought I would." Getting out of the springs, she turned around quickly, wrapping a towel around herself. The towel had appeared while she had been bathing, and she suspected that 'the little ones' that Deliyyja had spoken of were responsible for it. Her clothing was still damp, so she left it to continue drying in the sun, pausing only to pick up her swords and rune pouch. As she walked back into her rooms with only her swords and runes as protections, Sara mentally configured a simple binding spell. Easily triggered, but hard to get out, the spell would bind but not harm, and the power sparkle would be kept in one spot until she uttered the release phrase. _That's unlikely though, until I know who sent it, and what it's doing here._

"Restraining Lies!" she whispered after she had the spell readied. The spell worked with the mystical as well as the physical, allowing her to control what the sparkle would perceive as long as it remained under her hold.

Unlike the last spell, when this one hit the power sparkle, it seemed to wrap around it and pull it to the ground. Sara walked over to where the two had collided, and she could see a visible glow then. The restraining spell condensed until it was about the size of one of her larger runes. She picked it up gingerly, wincing slightly at the shock from the pulse of energy from the sparkle and put it on a chair in one of the rooms in her suite. The sparkle shook the spell, trying to get loose, but unable to. Sara watched it, willing it not to break loose. If it broke loose… she'd have no idea what to do after that, besides maybe go to De– _No… bad idea… you know you can't trust her. She killed a frost giant and drove off the rest. How do you know that this isn't one of her minions doing this?_

She watched the power sparkle until it stopped struggling, then she sighed in relief. She reached behind her to finger her hair, and walked over to the door rubbing her head. She knelt down and poked her pinkie finger in the lock and immediately felt a stinging sensation. _Of course she would Valkyrie-proof the lock. What else would I expect from a Valkyrie?_ She ignored the stinging though, and kept probing, finally deciding that it would do no good to try and blast through the door.

"Hmph." She took her finger out of the lock and stood back, rubbing it, damning herself the entire time. _How did I get myself in this situation?_

A flurry of activity to her right caught her attention, and she whirled around; too late, unfortunately, because her clothes had disappeared.

"_Deliyyja!_" she shrieked. She ran back outside to where she had left them and found nothing. She sprinted back inside to make sure that her swords were still there, and to her relief, they were. She stood there, panting. Her hands clenched and unclenched as she struggled to control herself. _ Keep calm… there's nothing to destroy and you need to get out of here. Just keep calm._ But then she looked to where her clothes had been again.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed and screamed…


	8. Only in a Towel

_Author's Note: I own nothing of the Ragnarok universe. Much thanks to yra as always and I hope this is enough action for you Crazy Nymph. I hope that this is enough action for you at the moment. Definitely more to come later. Hehehe… Anyways, enjoy the chapter and please review!_

**Chapter 7: Only in a Towel**

As Sara's screams faded into the distance, a head peeked into the room. Century had answered his mistress's summons and received word that he was to go and check on _Vættfang_ for Deliyyja.

"Great, just great. She wants me to get blown up," he had muttered to himself on the way down to the suite. "What did I do to deserve this?" He heard the screams then, and ran down to the door. Slowly and quietly, he touched his forehead and then the door panel to unlock the door. He poked his head in and saw Sara screaming.

"Uh, Mistress Sara? I was sent–" he got no further as he saw that Sara was only wearing a towel that the little ones had left for her. His face turned red and he covered his eyes. Sara whirled around and her eyes flashed with something that Century didn't even want to know.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" She took a step towards him with each word as she drew each one out into its own sentence. The air around her seemed to vibrate with each step, and when she reached him, she flung out an arm towards him. In that split second, he was able to see that she held a rune in her hand that was glowing and flaring. _Uh oh…_ was his only thought before the rune hit him. He was knocked backwards, and fell against the door, stunned. Sara walked slowly to him, each step measured, with one hand held in the air. That hand shimmered with power, and she was imposing, even dressed only in a towel. Century cowered slightly, remembering that just before he had left, Deliyyja had muttered something underneath her breath.

"Sneaky female." He muttered. She'd taken off his protections. No wonder he'd flown across the room and hit the door.

"_What?_" Sara gave him an incredulous look. He looked at her. "What did you call me?" She repeated again.

"Oh, no. Not you, Mistress Sara. I was speaking of Mistress Deliyyja."

"Hmph. Sure you were." Sara examined Century and found the earlier protections missing. _Sneaky female indeed. What are you up to Deliyyja?_

"Get up, Century." Century scrambled to his feet. He had a confused and frightened look on his face that Sara was pleased to see. _Good. Keep him scared and he won't try anything. Just don't do anything to him yet; we need his information._ She touched the back of his neck. The compulsion rune was still there.

"Ahh… good. So you're still bound to me that way. Okay then Century, where are my _clothes_?"

"Uh, clothes… _Vættfang_? What are you talking about?"

"Don't you dare start with me! I know you know something about this!" She jabbed her finger at him angrily. "Now tell me where my clothes are, or by Freya…" A ball of fire started to grow in her outstretched hand. Century watched that hand and the ball of fire started to spout flares that sprang loose and flew around her. Soon, Sara was surrounded by flying balls of flame. _She's really starting to freak me out_, Century thought. He shivered at the thought of what she could and might do with those balls of fire. She might burn his eyes out, or maybe just burn his hands. Then he wouldn't be useful at all.

"_Vættfang_, I swear by the gods, I know nothing about your clothes!" Century held out his hands in protest. "I was sent here by Mistress Deliyyja to check on you after everything that has happened today. She wanted to make sure that you're okay, or if you needed anything."

"Oh, I bet she wanted you to check on me. She wants me to go insane in this little prison, doesn't she?" One of the flames darted from her hand over to Century. It alighted on one of his hands and began to burn. He gasped and used the other hand to slap at it, trying to put out the flames. Sara laughed at him. She watched him and she laughed and laughed.

"It's not going to stop burning until you tell me what I want to know, Century. So unless you want one less hand, you'd better tell me pretty quick. My flame burns fast." Century gaped at her. Was she _serious_? His hand was turning red and he couldn't do anything to stop it. There was also a strange smell starting to come from the wound.

"I swear to you again, _Vættfang_, that I know nothing about your clothes. The little ones probably took them as a practical joke. They do things like that sometimes; it's just that everybody else in the castle has more than one change of clothing." Sara looked doubtful.

"_Little ones_? What exactly do you mean by that?" The smell was starting to make Century nauseous. He swayed a little where he stood, still slapping at the flame burning his hand.

"Mistress Deliyyja likes animals and of course keeps a lot of them. Some of them we call 'the little ones'. They're small flying lizards. They are very fond of mischief, and can be particularly deadly. I don't know exactly where they come from, but they use the tunnels in the castle to go anywhere." He whimpered. "Please, _please_, stop the fire, _Vættfang_. It's burning my hand off!"

Sara looked at Century with disgust, and then called the fire back to her. It flew back and joined the other balls of flame flying around their mistress. The other flames congregated around it, whirling around and around as though talking to it, before going back to their original activity of flying around Sara. She curled her fingers around the ball of fire that was still in her hand and it flowed in and around her hand like a living glove. _I suppose that he is telling the truth. His eyes don't tell me any lies. …lucky for him._

"Alright, Century. I'll believe your story–for the moment. Come here." Century stumbled forward and Sara took hold of his hand. "I'm going to heal your hand… partially. I will heal it the rest of the way when I get my clothes back." She brought out a healing rune and activated the part that would take away the pain and cure the worst of the burn.

"But I don't know–"

"Oh, I'm sure that you can help me figure it out, Century. You're clever enough that Deliyyja's kept you around for years. Think about it. Where would the flying lizards most likely take my clothes?"

Century was silent for a moment, thinking. He finally said, "They might take the clothes to Mistress Deliyyja."

"Take me to her."

"I don't think–"

"Exactly. Don't think, Century, if you want to keep me in a good mood." Sara turned her back to him and picked up Shinryongdo and Haeryongdo. She muttered a spell that secured the towel around her body, and then motioned to Century. "Undo the seals on the door, and then take me to Deliyyja." Sara put her hand on Century's shoulder and followed him as he went to the door. She watched him touch his forehead and then the door panel. _Ingenious. Only those with the proper 'touch', I guess you could call it, are you able to open the door properly without blasting through it; or finding some other way out. It would've taken me another two days at least to lay the foundations to get out of here. Damn._

Century led her into the hallway and turned right. They passed countless rooms and Sara tried to keep track of how many times they had turned, but it seemed impossible. _Was it right, down some stairs, right, left, then up some more stairs and straight for a while before another left?_ For all that she was confused, Sara was able to see that Century was touching the walls every once in a while. Every time he touched a wall a magical map would appear and show their position in the castle and also Deliyyja's position. _Interesting. I wonder if you have to have the biological key for this also._

"How long until we reach Deliyyja, Century?" Sara scratched a nail down Century's burned hand. The burn stung and Century gasped.

"Not… long…" he tried to control his breathing and stay calm as the pain subsided. "Another couple of minutes. She's in the Storm Springs." He turned one last time and opened a door for her. She went in and gave a pulling motion and Century was pulled forward involuntarily by her rune that was still stuck to his neck.

"Don't think you get to leave just yet, Century. Stay right behind me." She turned her back to him and continued into the room. The Storm Springs outer room was painted a blue with clouds and weather symbols all around the room. It looked like a person was standing in the middle of a cloud with birds and lightning and any type of weather imaginable. She couldn't tell exactly how large the room was, but in one section of the room were a chair and a table. That section of the room looked to be moving between snow and hail. Consequently, the chair had a covering over it, as it was prone to looking as though it was covered with snow or golf-ball sized hail. Another section of the room looked like a hurricane, while another section looked to be the northern lights. Sara turned around slowly, gaping at the extravagance of it all. Never before in her life had she seen a room like this; not even in Freya's palace. The outside of the castle did not do it justice in the least.

"Did Deliyyja do all this?"

"I believe she did, _Vættfang_. It was a personal project of hers, I heard, before I came to work for her. This way, please." He ushered her through one last set of doors and then stood to the side quietly. _I really, really don't want to get in the middle of this. Mistress Deliyyja isn't going to be happy that I brought her here._

A voice came from in front of them where Sara could clearly see the springs now.

"Is that you, Century? What did Sara say?"

"Get up Deliyyja. You had better start explaining why you put me into an enchanted room, stole my clothes, kept me captive, and refuse to give me satisfaction."

"_Sara?_" Deliyyja sounded incredulous.

"Yes, it's me," Sara sneered at her. "Now get out of that water and go get me my clothes."

"Where's Century? What have you done to him? You'd bet–" Deliyyja ducked under the water as Sara threw one of the little balls of flame at her. The ball of fire sizzled and died as it hit the water and Sara smiled as it did. Century started forward, but stopped when Sara looked at him. Reaching into her rune pouch, Sara took out a second healing rune and motioned to Century again. Fearing what would happen if he disobeyed, he came forward.

"I promised to heal your burn the rest of the way when you brought me to Deliyyja."

"Yes, Mistress Sara. You did."

"Give me your hand." Out of the corner of her eye, Sara saw Deliyyja start. She smiled at her reaction. _Good. Let her be unbalanced around me._

"What did you do to his hand? Get away from him!" Sara ignored her and stroked her fingers down the rune and watched as Century's hand healed. "There. Good as new; now go stand in that corner and be as quiet as a mouse, or you'll lose that hand permanently." Century obeyed with a swiftness that Deliyyja hadn't seen in years. _Damn that girl's good at persuasion. Century doesn't scare easily, but he's terrified of her– and she's only in a bath towel._ She giggled at the thought that Century was terrified of a woman clad only in a towel. Sara glanced at her sharply.

"What's so funny?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Now what was the matter?"

"Where are my clothes?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask the little ones? I had nothing to do with your clothes disappearing. I've been taking a dip in the Storm Springs for the last hour."

"I keep hearing about these little ones. Where the hell are they?" Sara shrieked in frustration. No one was helping her and her patience was starting to wear thin.

"Right behind you."


	9. Purple Leather and Magick

_Author's Note: I own nothing of Ragnarok (cries). Sorry that this chapter has taken so long to put up guys. Finals are coming up and it seems that all of my teachers want projects due around the same time. I promise I promise I promise that I will update more regularly than this once finals are over!_

**Chapter 8: Purple Leather and Magick**

"Right behind you," Deliyyja said.

Sara whirled around, the towel fluttering out around her as she did. Behind her were indeed those stupid, mischievous flying lizards. And in the claws of two of them were her clothes. She saw this and made a grab for her clothes, but they flew out of reach.

"Dammit, give back my clothes!" She leapt up again and again, futilely trying to snag her things so that she could put them back on. Deliyyja sat back in the hot springs and smiled as she watched Sara's efforts. _I wonder how long it'll take Vroa and Py to give them back. Those two can be so stubborn about their pranks._

"Uh… hey, Sara?"

"What?" Sara snapped. She was getting seriously pissed with the flying lizards, and because of the lizards, at Deliyyja.

"I don't know how long it'll take to get Vroa and Py to give back your clothes. You see, they can be quite stubborn." Sara glared at Deliyyja and muttered something under her breath.

"So why don't you order them to give back my clothes? You're their master, _aren't you_?" Sara sneered. A thin trail of black grew from her finger that was pointed at the ground and headed towards the two lizards with her things. Just before it hit them, they dodged, chittering angrily at her. As she stood there glaring at them, they flew higher and continued to chatter.

"No! Don't hurt them! And I can't make them give them back. They're not my servants; they're more like friends that stay here with me." Deliyyja did get up then to try and stop Sara, but she was already off chasing the lizards which had flown through the doors and down the hall. Deliyyja could hear Sara cursing after them. She snatched up a towel and wrapped it hastily around herself. Running to the door, she looked out after Sara and saw her sprinting after the two lizards and throwing more threads of black at them. Each thread of black was dodged, much to Sara's annoyance, which caused another string of cursing.

"Hold still, you bloody lizards! Give me back my damn clothes!" Her voice echoed down the hallway as she ran. Vroa and Py stopped their angry chittering long enough to give one that sounded like a lizard version of a laugh and sped up. Deliyyja covered her mouth. _The little snots. They're having _fun_ with this!_

"Century." Deliyyja summoned him from where he still huddled in the corner after he'd had his hand healed. He straightened up and hurried over to where his mistress stood.

"I need my clothes quickly please. I need to follow them to make sure that our beloved _Vættfang_ doesn't kill Vroa or Py for this mischief."

"Yes, Mistress. Do you want the leather or the regular?"

"The leather, please. I have a feeling that _Vættfang_ is feeling in the mood for a battle, and the leather is infinitely more suited to a confrontation. Just in case. One must always be ready with our Sara. She's been unpredictable since she joined the Valkyries at twelve years old. That's what makes her so good, being unpredictable. She quickly mastered the basics and with everyone either being killed by her or being sworn to secrecy by Freya, I haven't been able to figure out too much about what she is capable of. All that I know is that she mainly uses runes, but is still very skilled at general incantations and spells." Deliyyja paused and let Century take in this information. "Now… the leather if you would please, Century."

Century bowed to her and turned away.

"Yes, Mistress. I shall be back momentarily." He left, and Deliyyja sat down in the snow chair in the room, just watching the alternating snow and hail fall around her. It gave her a sort of peace, knowing that this castle was almost invincible, but not quite, because _Vættfang_ was chasing around some loyal friends. _I just hope that she doesn't run into their parents…_

Deliyyja grimaced at the thought. Vroa and Py's parents were very protective of them. Compared to humans in years, the two were roughly the age of a toddler, with the size to match when compared to their parents. When fully grown, Vroa and Py would be the ultimate predators, eating only meat. They made excellent guards if one wasn't on their bad side. _If one was… well... you wouldn't have to worry for very much longer._

"Argh! Where is Century with my clothes?" Deliyyja started pacing the floor in frustration. The seconds where ticking by, and with each passing one, Sara ran even more of a risk of running into Vroa and Py's parents, and Deliyyja ran even more of a risk of Sara killing or maiming one of her precious lizards.

"Century!" Deliyyja yelled down the hall, sticking her head out. Her braids swished behind her head. Just as she was about to pull her head back in, she saw Century round the corner of the hallway at a run, clothes in hand.

"Sorry, Mistress. I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to get back with the clothes. Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Deliyyja snatched the clothes out of his hands and gave him a quick hug.

"Yeah, yeah… thanks so much for the clothes. But we gotta hurry." Century nodded swiftly and opened the door for her. She hurried through and changed quickly into the leather ensemble, all the while, shouting questions at Century; as quickly as possible when one was putting leather over damp skin. Century heard quite a few thuds and curses come from his mistress as he talked to her and waited. Her questions were about the castle in general, from maintenance to other visiting dignitaries of Freya's and questions about the grounds and security. Then, once she was dressed, the most important questions.

"Century! Has Sara hit Vroa or Py yet? Where are they? Have they disturbed any of the other guests? What's Freya up to?" Century answered her as best as he could, but Deliyyja was talking so fast that he only caught about half of what she said.

"Um… well… Vroa and Py are still being themselves, flying around squeaking at the top of their lungs with Mistress Sara's clothes clutched in their claws. Right now I think they're in the east wing – thankfully away from the other guests. And I have no idea what Freya's up to. I haven't gotten any reports back from our sources in that area today. It's like they're not even there anymore." He paused as Deliyyja gave him a sharp look. "Well, it is. I don't know what's going on. I can't tell if she's moving or if she's listening right now… or if she isn't. I just don't know."

"Century… you're _supposed_ to know this." He ducked his head and made a noise of apology.

"I'm sorry… it's just that I've been so concerned about you and _Vættfang_ possibly getting into an argument that I just forgot to check into it." Deliyyja gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Whatever. Anyways, after we take care of this business with Sara _Vættfang_ we'll see what's going on with Freya. Hopefully all of this activity hasn't attracted her attention." She opened the door to the hall and peeked out. Sara wasn't in sight. "Let's go find our lizards and our runaway _Vættfang_, shall we?" she suggested with a grin. She drew a hand over her outfit and lightning crackled. Century grinned back at her.

"Yes, let's." He loved seeing Deliyyja in this mood; all dressed up in her deep purple combat leather with her braids streaked with lightning bolts. The leather bustier was engraved with lightning bolts and twists and turns and pockets for all of her magical things. The pants were etched with the same lightning bolts and contained multiple places for her to place her knives. Deliyyja loved knives; loved the fact that knives would conduct electricity _extremely_ well, and held a charge for months before needing to be renewed.

She grabbed her three favorite knives and jammed them into place. The other things she needed were already in place in their proper pockets. Century had seen to that while he had been running to bring them back to her.

They ran into the hallway and headed towards the east wing where Century had reported that Sara was located. The other numerous lizards that stayed at the castle with them fell in around the pair until Deliyyja barked a sharp reprimand in their direction.

"All of you, go back to the Storm Springs! We don't need any of you getting hurt. How would your parents react if you got yourselves killed or hurt because you wanted to have a little fun with the mad Valkyrie _Vættfang_?" The tiny lizards gave little distressed squeaks and flew off, dejected. Deliyyja and Century looked at each other and shrugged.

"You _are_ right, Mistress. What would their parents think if they got themselves killed of hurt?"

"Probably would give me an award for getting rid of one of their hundreds of offspring… after trying to torch me of course. No matter, let's go find them." They ran off down the hallway, Deliyyja in the lead, their strides eating up the ground. Within minutes they heard the sound of Sara yelling.

"Give me my clothes back! How long are you gonna resist, you stupid lizards?" Then there was the sound of air as she shot another spell at them. Deliyyja and Century heard a shrill squeal from Py and a shout of triumph from Sara. "Don't like burned tail, do you? Give me my clothes or I'll burn the rest of you!" Deliyyja and Century rounded the last corner to see Py and Vroa hovering in midair, Py's tail tucked under her body in protection. Py was glaring at Sara and shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"_Sara_!" Deliyyja shouted, "Leave my lizards alone!" Sara turned to look at Deliyyja and Century, a black ball of fire in her hand. The black was veined with red and sparks shot out of it.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do to stop me?" Sara took a menacing step towards the pair, forgetting about her clothes for the moment. Deliyyja made a tiny motion with her head at Century to grab the clothes from Py and Vroa. She smirked at Sara in her bath towel.

"Still on that are we? Come on, _Vættfang_, can't you come up with some better threat for me? Better yet, don't. It wouldn't work with you dressed only in a towel. You could always try for 'Best in Towel' at the local pageant, but you're a couple of months too early and they require that you have _clothes_ on underneath the clothes." Deliyyja put a hand up to her mouth and said mockingly, "Oh, don't tell me you didn't know? Oh… I'm sorry." Deliyyja's eyes darted to Century for an instant as he crept behind Sara where she stood, shaking with rage. Seeing her moment when Deliyyja was distracted, Sara let loose the black fire in her hand and it sped towards the other Valkyrie.

"Black Rage!" The fire expanded as it flew and Deliyyja jumped out of the way, the ends of her braids colliding with the flame. The lightning from her blades and the black fire produced a shower of sparks that neither of the two women noticed. Both were totally intent on the imminent battle now.

They circled each other warily, Deliyyja in her purple leather and Sara in her towel. Century paused in his task to look at them, making sure that they weren't dead yet. Seeing that they weren't and also that the lizards were enthralled with the spectacle in front of them, he snatched Sara's clothes out of their claws. They didn't even notice the change they were so enraptured with the prospect of the sight of a Valkyrie battle; a real Valkyrie battle.

"You were told to stay out of this, Deliyyja! This would never have happened if you hadn't killed my frost giant and driven off the others. This never would have happened if you hadn't kept me locked up in a room and taken away my clothes! This never would have happened if you had never shown your face!" Sara turned her head for a second and saw Century. She didn't plan on hurting the man… if he did as he was told.

"My clothes, Century. _Now_." His hands shaking, Century handed the clothes back to her. Sara drew her hand over the clothes and then over her body and the clothes appeared on her body as the towel disappeared. "Much better." She turned back to Deliyyja. "Now – back to business."

Once again, a black ball of fire grew in Sara's hand. Deliyyja's eyes narrowed at the sight. _This is not gonna end well. One of us is gonna get hurt, and it's not gonna be me. The girl seriously does not know who she's dealing with._ In Deliyyja's hand grew a ball of lightning, with a glow strong enough to push back the darkness that was radiating from Sara's fire.

"Business, is it, _Vættfang_? All right then. Bring it. Let's see how good you really think you are." The lightning ball in her hand grew tentacles to wind around her body, forming a shield. Sara took this in and remembered her mother. Her anger grew and grew and suddenly she remembered something her mother had said, "_Take the spell and make it your own._"

"For you, Mama," she whispered.

"_No, darling. For us,_" she heard her mother reply on the wind. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Deliyyja. There it was… almost… almost. There! Her eyes snapped open and the black fire disappeared in her hand to be replaced with black lightning.

"Now let's see how well you do against your own magic," she muttered. The black lightning hurtled out of her hand and more took its place. The remaining black lightning formed a shield around her as well; a mirror of the shield that Deliyyja had formed in white lightning.

"STOP!" The voice came out of nowhere… and yet everywhere. The black lightning disappeared and so did the shields and both Deliyyja and Sara lost their concentration. They looked around for the source of the voice and saw…

Freya.


	10. Enter Freya

_Author's note: I own nothing… blah. I hate finals and they're finally over! There is a small reference to Star Wars in here, which I also don't own… I'm sure everybody will recognize it when you read it. I am soooo sorry yra that it took so long for me to get this up. Thanks to everybody who waited and reviewed while I worked on this, and I'm sorry this is so short. It's kinda a transitional chapter._

**Chapter 9: Enter Freya  
**

"STOP!"

Both Deliyyja and Sara looked up at the shout, startled to see another person in the room, and both incensed that anyone would dare interrupt them. To their surprise, the goddess Freya stood there, impatiently waiting for them to acknowledge her. Deliyyja was surprised by Freya's appearance. _She's changed since last time; taken out every hint of softness in her wardrobe. Wow. Still looks good though._

Freya was dressed in a mixture of blood red and black leather. The blood red leather made up her top that was corset style with small metal rings sewn into the leather for ornamentation. The straps of the corset were heavily ringed with metal. On her arms were wide leather bands; one at her wrist, another at her elbow, and another at the upper arm. Each band was studded with metal rings and chains ran through the rings, connecting each of the bands to each other, and finally to Freya's corseted top. Her shoes were black knee-high boots and with those she wore a short black leather skirt. _Mmm… most definitely lost the softness factor there_, Deliyyja mused. _Ooh… I forgot the hair… wow. That's changed, too. No way could anybody miss that unless they were blind._

Freya's hair was a wild, vibrant red that was naturally curly and could not be controlled. Freya had tamed in it in a sort of way with her crown. The crown was silver and began on Freya's brow. From there it traveled to the side of her head and was anchored there with clips. From the clips, the crown became a sort of hairpiece, swooping under her hair and intertwining with it until it lifted the hair off of Freya's nape before coming back to rest on top of Freya's head. On the top of her head, the crown met in a peak and from that peak dangled a large ruby that was shaped like a flame. Smaller glittering rubies decorated the rest of the crown.

Sara took all of this in, in an instant, then bowed her head and kneeled to the ground. Deliyyja followed suite; Century a moment later. Freya looked at them and was silent. The two women looked up at their mistress in expectation of what she would say, but she remained as she was, just staring at them. Deliyyja was the first to speak.

"Mistress, it's good to see you. I am honored that you have chosen to visit my home." Freya gave Deliyyja _the look_, and Deliyyja stopped right there.

"What have you been up to here, Deliyyja? You know that when I sent Sara, she was given instructions to let no one interfere; yet what have you done but that?" Sara gave a small, secret grin. _Good… uppity bitch never should have gotten in my way._ She relished that Deliyyja would soon be in trouble with the High Goddess herself, and that she, Sara, would be once again on her way after the Wolf-Goddess Fenris Fenrir… and the sword of Balder.

"But Mistress, I can explain. I needed to –"

"No need for explanations, Deliyyja. No need…" Freya's voice became soft, and she swayed forward towards her. Deliyyja swallowed sharply. With her eyes locked on Freya's, she slowly stood up.

"What do you mean by 'no need' Mistress?" she asked.

"What it means, Deliyyja, is that I would expect better from you than to interfere with a vital mission." Sara smiled in understanding. _Ahh… the power sparkle. That's where it came from. Whoops. Guess maybe I shouldn't have captured it._ Freya had been keeping tabs on _Vættfang_ the entire time; ever since she had left the palace. "What it means, Deliyyja, is that I expect better from someone I have raised in the Valkyrie ways _personally_," Freya continued. Deliyyja stood silent. Freya arched one perfect red eyebrow at the Valkyrie.

"Well?"

"Well… uh, Mistress…" Deliyyja began clawing at her throat as Freya lifted her hand. Freya whispered to herself as she watched Deliyyja fight the stranglehold the magic had on her.

"Don't try to play me, Deliyyja. I know what goes on in that pretty little head of yours, and you are _not_ good enough to outwit me."

"Hrk… please, Goddess–"

"_Please, Goddess_ nothing, Deliyyja. I know you were watching Sara; it's your favorite pastime. You have watched her and watched her since I started training her instead of you, hopeful for some payback, I believe." The magic grew a little stronger and Deliyyja's face began to turn red. Century gave a gasp at the tactics the goddess was using. _Surely she's not truly going to suffocate one of her best, is she? She can't possibly._ But to Century's dismay, Freya didn't let up.

"Century," the goddess snapped. He stood at attention.

"Yes, Goddess?"

"Out. Now."

"Yes, Goddess. At once." Century left in a hurry after giving Deliyyja an apologetic look. Even though struggling for air, she nodded slightly at him in understanding. Century didn't want to leave her, but to disobey the Goddess Freya would be even more disastrous.

Deliyyja turned back to Freya, thinking furiously. The magic of the goddess was slowly strangling her and she was starting to see dark spots in her vision. Century was gone, and now Freya would have no qualms (if she'd had any before) about punishing her errant Valkyrie, and Sara was watching just behind the goddess with a satisfied grin on her face. _I… never got… to tell… her._

As Deliyyja grew limp, Freya turned to Sara.

"Now, Sara, I want you to finish your assignment. Fenris Fenrir has not reached the sword of Balder yet, so there is still time. Find her and stop her if necessary." Sara bowed low to the goddess.

"Yes, Mistress. At once." Sara turned on her heel and left the room. Freya took another disgusted look at Deliyyja before releasing her from the magic that held her. Deliyyja lay on the floor, gasping for breath, barely conscious.

"Remember this, Deliyyja, for the next time you cross me, it _will_ be worse. I promise you that." The goddess drew a symbol in the air and disappeared, leaving Deliyyja alone.


	11. Sara Meets the Parents

_Author's Note: I wish I owned this… I so wish I did, but I don't. Thanks for everybody who reviewed! Again, sorry that last chapter was so short. This one will be longer, I promise. Enjoy! And I'm also sooo sooo sorry that this is so late. My computer's been dead without a power for over a month (cries in dismay), so chapters will be coming out in a flurry. My thanks to everyone for being very patient._

**Chapter 10: Sara Meets the Parents  
**

Sara left when dismissed by Freya, but instead of immediately leaving to follow her runes, she called the memory of her earlier journey to Deliyyja's office. The other Valkyrie wouldn't be coming to stop her for a while, incapacitated as she was. She paused a moment, her back to a door in one of the halls and listened. That infernal man, Century, always seemed to pop up at the least opportune times. When she heard nothing, she smiled and continued.

"I want proof that what she said about Freya is true. _And _I want to know what she knows about me and Fenris Fenrir. And where are those frost giants that I asked for? She must have a map around here somewhere for their settlement. This is the only place in Midgard that they live besides Mistress Freya's palace estates," she muttered to herself as she walked through the halls. _Now… was it right, right, left, and then up a flight before taking another right? Or do I have to go straight a ways before going down a flight and _then _right? Dammit._ Sara's forehead furrowed into a frown as she concentrated on remembering the route Century had taken her earlier that day. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, she finally reached the Storm Springs' outer room.

Ignoring the snow, hail, fog, and other weather anomalies, Sara searched for the walls of the room. She put her hands in front of her and began to walk, not wanting to smack herself in the face. _I guess I could use magick… but I don't really want to waste it_, she thought. As she walked, the weather changed from snow to rain, and then to sun-filled skies… and Sara gasped.

"_Helvetes levende_… is this where she views events in Midgard?" Below Sara's feet was a map of Midgard laid out with it's respective weather patterns. Sara touched her mind to the town of Fayon, and suddenly, before her was the city of her birth from a bird's-eye view. Concentrating a little harder, she tried to send the magick to find her father.

Boom.

Sara was flung backwards, and as she fell, the image of Fayon disappeared. She landed in an undignified heap, and struggled to rise. As she did, she heard a laugh. There stood Century with arms folded, _laughing_ at her. When she was finally able to rise; glaring at him through the entire process, Century held out one hand.

"Is this what you were seeking, _Vættfang_?" She looked at his outstretched hand, and indeed, there was the very object of her search: her father's image. She stared at it, amazed, before directing an annoyed look at Century.

"Who said I was seeking that person?" Century gave her an amused, very un-Century-like look.

"Your spell and thoughts did, _Vættfang_." Sara's muscles at her jaw twitched. _Not good. This Century person was not supposed to know this level of magick. How did I miss _this She narrowed her eyes at Century and motioned. The little figure on his hand disappeared and appeared in midair in front of Sara. She examined the figure, which was roughly one foot in height and proportioned likewise, looking for distinguishing features. And there, on his face was the most obvious one of them all… the scar. She remembered the dream again. Had the scar formed from her spell sent back at her father? _No,_ she thought, _I remember that it was already there, just not this visible._ Her father's image showed the scar as a brilliant red – clearly showing the signs of a magical spell.

"_Vættfang_… are you done examining the person you _weren't_ seeking yet?" Century's voice was mocking and Sara grew angry.

"What did… you … say to me?" she asked in a low voice. Century wasted no time in answering, still in the same tone of voice.

"I asked if you were done examining the person you weren't seeking. I mean… you seemed a mite interested in that person seeing as how you weren't –" Century cut off as Sara suddenly jammed three fingers into her rune pouch and muttered a curse spell.

"Now, now, _Vættfang_. I don't think that's such a good idea…" Century said as he held up his hands, but to no avail. Sara finished the curse with the muttered words, "_Ødelegg fienden, som forbant for all evighet i de dypeste kretsene av Helvete._" Century laughed and watched the curse speed towards him and then ringed himself in a shield of black fire veined with purple.

The curse grew to look like a giant black crow as it flew towards him, and when it impacted, Century felt his shield shudder. _This is not right. She should not be able to cause so much of a reaction in my shield. The insolence._ Century felt his power explode within him, and he allowed it to come, flowing out of him and expanding until it engulfed what was left of Sara's spell, shattering it. His hand fell to his side as the power took him over, erasing all reasoning except one: _Protect Mistress Deliyyja and her interests_. And _Vættfang_ no longer was an interest of Deliyyja as of this moment to Century. The shield grew stronger as Century's anger grew and his humor faded.

"You think to frighten me with this little fireworks display, hmm, Century? Well you can forget it; you're no match for me," Sara taunted him. Century didn't answer, but instead tossed the ball of power at her. Sara stared at Century in shock for a brief moment in amazement before being galvanized into action. Her hand fell to her side also and power gathered in it as well.

"Oh, so you think you're a match for a Valkyrie, do you? Well, let's see what you have Century." Sara's eyes took on a dangerous glint and the power in her hand took on a golden hue. Snaking in and around the fingers on her lowered hand, the power grew larger and larger until it encompassed her entire arm. With a snarl she flung the power at Century, shouting as she did.

"_Vættfang_ Fury!" The golden power snaked away from her and split three ways to surround Century. He took it in and stood there, much to Sara's puzzlement. Glancing to each side one and then forward again, he reached inside himself and drew out the true Century. Power, colored black with scarlet veins and tinged with purple to show his service to Deliyyja flowed into view. Century's eyes became black with purple irises and his hair changed color to black with purple ends in an instant.

Century whispered into the space, "Silent Thunder…" and the black power snaked out in almost a perfect replication of Sara's attack to whirl around Century, before seeking out the three bolts that had been released by Sara. Century's spell reacted to Sara's like the converse force, seeking out her spell much like a heat-seeker rocket would, and colliding with it to form an awesome explosion. Both were rocked back by the blast. Immediately afterwards, Century loosed another on Sara.

"Mindless Chaos!" he shouted as the spell left the swirling mass of black, purple, and scarlet that surrounded him. Sara gaped at him in astonishment, and barely had time to call up a shield for herself. As it was, she was only able to call the most basic shield for protection, so it was grossly inadequate.

"Odin's Shield!" Just after the shield spell had been uttered, Century's own spell struck it, shattering it easily. Sara was thrown backwards, landing in a heap for the second time in a very short while. Incensed, she stood up, the power coursing around her and attacked Century again, heedless of her own peril.

"Crimson Pyre!" Century didn't even move, and the spell was somehow manipulated to attacking it's caster. Sara was consumed within her own spell and after it was done, she glanced up, barely conscious.

"H- how?" Century walked over to her and looked down at her form on the 'floor', face impassive.

"Because my magick causes spells to go awry from the caster. And also because you made the mistake of attacking me in Mistress Deliyyja's most sacred room. Now… you _will_ take off this compulsion, and then you will leave peacefully, yes?" Sara wanted to protest, but knew she had no choice. Century confounded her; first meek and scared, then powerful and unafraid. She held up a hand weakly and motioned; the compulsion rune fell off and burned to ash. Century nodded and then picked her up, anger gone, and with it the black fire.

"W- who are you?"

"I am Sella." And with that answer, Century carried Sara, the _Vættfang_ Child of the Valkyries, out of the Storm Springs and into another room. Laying her on the ground, he motioned and dozens of the little ones came to him. He whispered something to them, and they chirped in agreement before flying to Sara and picking her up amongst themselves. Century left the room, and they followed, still carrying her.

Century led the lizards out of the castle and into the forest of Jotunheim surrounding it. Walking for another ten minutes of so before halting, Century made sure that the castle was out of sight. Finally at their destination, a cave, Century stopped low and entered, humming quite loudly. The little ones carrying Sara took up the tune as they went deeper into the cave. Roughly another five minutes later, Century stopped again and the little ones laid Sara down. She looked slowly around and saw that from another part of the cave was coming a pair of larger lizards. They looked slightly like wyverns, but not quite. Century saw the look and spoke.

"They are cousins of wyverns, and the parents of the little ones. They have insisted on guarding you until you can travel because they have no wish for Deliyyja to be killed and her house destroyed." Sara looked at the larger of the pair near her, searching for any weaknesses.

"Don't try it, _Vættfang_. They don't take kindly to bad magick. Deliyyja and I have yet to find a spell that will fell the adults. If you try, they may very well bite off your hands and feed them to their children. Goodbye." And with that, Century left Sara with her thoughts and a pair of large, hostile-looking lizards.

_Who is Sella? And why does he go by the name of Century now?_


	12. You Must Find Sella'

_Author's Note: A small look at my wish list from this last year- **1.** To own Ragnarok **2.** To own Love Hina… and on it goes. Did any of my wishes come true? No! I don't own Ragnarok or Love Hina, or any of my favorite mangas ye!t cries But anyways, enjoy the chapter, and please review._

**Chapter 11: 'You Must Find Sella...'**

Century hurried back through the forests, his thoughts off of Sara and back on Deliyyja once again. _I hope I haven't left her alone too long. Please… not too long._ The time seemed to stretch out, and finally, too frustrated with himself, Century stopped and conjured up a transportation spell.

"_Sammenbruddav Materie i et Andre_," he muttered, and an instant later he appeared in the hallway outside of the Valkyrie's Suite. Opening the door cautiously, Century ventured inside. Inside were the remains of Sara's earlier rampage. Torn bedding hung from table and chairs that were in splinters. Tapestries were shredded and ornamental bowls and vases lay shattered and scattered all over the room. Walking carefully through the room, Century noticed a pool of blood not yet dried. Putting one finger to the blood and brining it to his nose, he sniffed.

"Hmmm… not Deliyyja's. Must be _Vættfang_'s from her temper-tantrum." He wiped the blood off on a tattered shred of sheet and continued to where he had left Deliyyja. She still lay there. He knelt down next to her and put his hand to her check, and was alarmed when there was no reaction. Hastily, he picked her up and murmured the transportation spell a second time. This time, they appeared in Deliyyja's private suite.

Deliyyja moaned as he set her down on the bed. Forgoing any more spells, Century hurried into another part of the suite and gathered up a pitcher of water taken from the Storm Springs, a few towels, and bowls. He went back into the bedroom to find that in the few minutes he'd been gone, Deliyyja had progressed from moaning to also twisting the bedding around her.

"No, Del! Don't do this to yourself!" Century whispered in dismay, his past coming back for an instant. He shook off the moment and picked up the pitcher. Pouring water into one of the bowls, he poured power into the water. Not his power, but the purple power, Deliyyja's power, that she had pout into him as a reserve. He continued to pour in power, even as Deliyyja continued to writhe and moan. _She needs the power now, but I haven't pulled it all out. Is this enough?_ He looked at the bowl of water before him, and to his relief, it held a violet tint that swirled and changed hues on its own.

"It's enough," he breathed in relief. Sitting on the bed next to Deliyyja, he picked her up and set her in front of him, her back to his chest so that he could prop her up and help her to drink.

Before trying to get her to drink, though, Century _did_ use a touch of his power to calm her enough so that she wouldn't choke. After she calmed, he held the bowl to her lips and let the water slide down her throat drop by miniscule drop. She swallowed convulsively, and each time she coughed, Century hastily took the bowl away from her and waited. After each coughing bout, he brought the bowl back to her lips and continued to help her drink. When the water was gone, Century laid her back down and pulled the bedding over her.

Then Century went over to a recliner in the room and sat down to wait. _What did Freya do to Mistress Deliyyja after I left? She could easily have died when I was occupied with Mistress Sara Vættfang_. Century stared at the bed and worried and thought. It was very unlike Deliyyja to be caught unawares by anyone, even _her_ mistress. Deliyyja coughed and Century jerked in the chair for a moment before realizing that nothing was wrong. He sank back into the chair and continued to watch over her.  
-

* * *

-  
Deliyyja dreamed after Century had forced the water down her throat. She dreamed of the past, the present, and more importantly – the future. Skuld, Norn of the Future came to her and drove away the demons of the past from her dreams and spoke. 

"Be at peace, Deliyyja, for the time for you to go to the black god has not yet come."

"But how can I know that? I mean, besides you telling me? Freya did something to me, and it wasn't just strangling me with magick," Deliyyja sent a doubtful look at the Norn, while at the same time trying to remain respectful. Skuld after all _did_ know her future.

"Yes, we know. It will keep you from pursuing Sara Irine until you find a way to reverse it."

"Can't you tell me how? Please!" Deliyyja pleaded with the Fate, the other two Fates, Ur of the Past and Verdandi of the Present idly sitting behind them, listening intently.

"I'm sorry, no. Sella must help you. He is the only other one who can help take off the curse. He is near, but still so far away."

"Sella?" Deliyyja asked in surprise and confusion. "B– but he's dead!"

The Norn of the Past stood from her position.

"Dead? Dead in a way, perhaps, but has waited… yes, waited, sister, to be awakened."

The Norn of the Present stood also.

"He waits. He woke for an instant, but fell asleep again. He waits for Deliyyja Talistra to awaken him."

Deliyyja stood in confusion before the Norns. _Sella? How can he be asleep and waiting for me to wake him? He died! I saw him stop breathing! Freya showed me the explosion and the house collapse on top of him!_

Verdandi, Norn of the Present spoke, "She doubts. Doubt is human."

"She will need that humanity to confront Sara Irine and Freya again. Too many doubts, though, and she _will_ fail." Skuld stopped and seemed to listen to something.

"We must go. Freya becomes suspicious. Find Sella. Awaken him. He carries the power to heal you," and with that, the Norns disappeared and Deliyyja awoke in her bed. Sitting up with a small groan, she looked around the room. _I'm not in the Valkyrie's Suite anymore. How– _ She saw Century sitting in the recliner, asleep, and smiled. _Of course. Century would never let me die._ She looked to the side table and saw the bowl and pitcher and towels. The bowl to her eyes contained a violet tint. _Huh? The water from the Storm Springs doesn't hold magick…_

She slowly climbed out of bed and stumbled over to Century. Poking him in the chest, she chastised him lightly.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. What kind of guard are you? Sleeping when your patient's out of it?" Century blinked blearily at her.

"Whu– huh?" Deliyyja continued on.

"… you never know what kind of crazy person might just come in here and murder me while I'm trying to recover. And of course you'd still be sleeping there, oblivious." Century's sleepy look vanished and turned to one of alarm as he comprehended who was standing in front of him. He face flamed when he realized that he had fallen asleep. He jumped up and began to hurry around the room, straightening up as he apologized.

"Forgive me, Mistress. I was irresponsible to fall asleep while watching over you when you were injured…"

"Century -"

"I'll go see to the straightening up of the Valkyrie's Suite…"

"Cen_tury_ -"

"… in just… a moment," Century finished weakly. "Yes, Mistress?"

"It's very nice that you want to be all servile and such, but could you explain to me where Sara went?" Century gulped and looked at his feet.

"I, uh… I got mad when I found her in the Map Room. She's with Michaela and Lucifer now." Deliyyja look at him sharply, focusing on the latter half of the conversation.

"_What in Valhalla_ possessed you that you would put _Vættfang_ with the parents of two of the very creatures she tried to barbecue? Do you know what they _might_ do to her?" Deliyyja looked at Century with a sly look all of the sudden. Century looked back nervously.

"What?"

"_How did_ you get her to go meet Michaela and Lucifer in the first place? You don't even like being in the same room with her when you have amulets on for protection, and all of your amulets and spells were gone," Deliyyja's look implied the lewdest scenario and Century backed up and step, hands in the air.

"It wasn't like that at all, Mistress. As I said, I got, uh… mad. And then Mistress Sara _Vættfang_ got angry also, and uh… we got into a fight." Deliyyja stared at century in disbelief.

"_You_… fought with _Vættfang_ on your own? And _won_?" Shaking her head, Deliyyja walked back over to the bed and sat down. _Century took on Vættfang? This is just another in the long list of things that shouldn't surprise me about him, but still does._ Century followed Deliyyja, head bowed in regret at disappointing his mistress.

"I am… am sorry that I was unable to keep her here, Mistress, but Michaela and Lucifer _insisted_ on guarding Mistress _Vættfang_." Century took a peak at her, and saw Deliyyja still sitting on the bed, with her head bowed and shoulders shaking. _Is she crying over my news? Look at what I have done to her. I should have had Michaela and Lucifer watch Vættfang here at the castle._ He reached out his hand to comfort her, then thought better of it, and snatched his hand back when her shoulders shook harder. Deliyyja looked up, a giant grin on her face.

"That's _awesome_! We never believed that you had that much power, Century. How did it happen? You must tell me everything." She patted the bed next to her. Century looked on in confusion. _What just happened here? I thought she was crying, and instead she was laughing?_ Deliyyja frowned at him when he didn't immediately sit, and Century hurriedly sat at her side.

"Now – tell me everything, Century. And after you tell me everything about your encounter, I will tell you about mine." Century nodded, took a deep breath, and began.

"It's not too long, really, Mistress. I found _Vættfang_ in the Map Room as I said, and tried to joke with her about her reasons for going in there. She had been seeking a person in the city of Fayon. She tried to dismiss it, but when I held up the image of the person that her mind had been searching for, she seemed very intent on examining it even while professing no interest.

"I don't know what came over me, but I wasn't afraid of her in the Map Room. Maybe it was the fact that the Map Room is immersed in your power, and I'm comforted by it, or maybe it was seeing Mistress Sara not be able to harness the full power of the Map Room. She had not seen the figure of that person until I held it to her, because the Map Room would not let her; in fact, it threw her backwards. She landed very ungracefully for _Vættfang_." Century stopped there for a second as Deliyyja broke out in full laughter.

"You're telling me that the Map Room threw _Vættfang_ on her butt because it didn't like her? By the gods, that's rich! But please, continue," Deliyyja choked out.

"Yes, Mistress. Anyways, _Vættfang_ grew angry that I would ever speak to her in such a way, and decided to 'discipline' me. I can't say that I didn't deserv–"

"Century… just the facts, please," Deliyyja said.

"Yes Mistress. She cursed me. It was a curse that looked like a giant black crow. So I created that shield you told me about, but when the curse hit the shield something changed in me. I can't say what, but I know somewhere in my head I can remember thinking that _Vættfang_ was no longer in the best interests of you anymore, and therefore must leave the castle any way possible. So I fought her." He stopped talking and after a few seconds, Deliyyja gave him a look.

"That's it? You fought her?"

"Pretty much. I mean, I know my hair went black, and so did my eyes. And instead of being just black, my power was tinged purple and scarlet. And I think I used two spells that I've never even heard of before." Deliyyja look down at her hands, disturbed. _Century from this view could easily be my equal. Who _is_ he?_

"Which spells? Do you remember?"

"Yes, Mistress. The first one was 'Silent Thunder' and the second was 'Mindless Chaos'. _Vættfang_ tried using 'Crimson Pyre' on me after I used the second of the spells, but instead of me being consumed by the fire, it was _Vættfang_ herself that was engulfed in the fires. Was my information useful? Or do I need to go and sit in the snow for a while?" Century looked at his hands while he waited for Deliyyja to pronounce his fate.

Deliyyja looked at Century. Silent Thunder and Mindless Chaos were two spells that were reserved for noble members of the sorcerers. She didn't even know of the way to summon them. _Century, what am I to do with you? You have been with me for years, and I feel like I haven't even scraped the surface of you._ She leaned over and hugged him. She wasn't going to worry about it now. Not when she needed a friend, and he was already here. Too many Valkyries had lost loyal people by doubting needlessly, and she wasn't going to start. Century started and looked up at her with a surprised look.

"C'mon. Let's go get some food, Century. I'm starving!" She jumped up and grabbed Century's hand, dragging a very surprised man behind her. _I'll worry about this whole Century and Sella problem later. After food… and nobody had better interrupt me before that happens,_ she thought with a grim smile.


	13. Clue in the Dark

_Author's Note: I've been in a very lethargic mood lately, so sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Once again, Ragnarök does not belong to me (sob!), but I can aspire, can't I? Anyways, this chapter and chapter 13 should be up relatively soon, because I have them written out on paper, just not typed into the computer. Enjoy and review please. Ohhh… and share with everybody! I'd like to get some new reviewers to the Ragnarök section of Fanfiction._

**Chapter 12: Clue in the Dark  
**

Sara watched the two lizards as they lay in front of her.___No, I wouldn't call it 'lay'… they're still threatening me._ Which, to her mind they had been doing since she woke up a few days ago. They lazed about the cave, sharpening their claws indolently on the rocks, or cleaning them. One had also taken the opportunity early on to go and hunt. Although being the smaller one, it had brought back a beast over half its size, not quite dead, and proceeded to show the 'little ones' how to finalize a kill.

"Repulsive," she muttered to herself. The little ones, Vroa and Py in particular, had taken delight in flying just past Sara's nose, entrails clutched in their claws. The one time Sara had reacted almost violently, the two adults had gotten up, walked over, and the largest one had slowly dragged one claw lightly over her stomach. Sara had held her breath, not being strong enough yet to resist, and seeing this, the creature had only drawn a thin line of blood across her stomach.___Clearly a warning, and in my current state I'd be a fool not to remember it._

She rubbed her hand lightly over her stomach, feeling for the cut that was no longer there.___I really got lucky there with that cut._ Her hand stilled as the two lizards got up and… _bowed_?

"What in all the gods?" Who could get those overfed monsters to bow? She strained to sit upright.___Damn that man! How could he ever have beaten me?_

"That's the very question I want to ask you, Sara Irine." Sara grimaced.___Oh great, Deliyyja's awake. And quite pleased about something by the looks of it._ Deliyyja's smile widened.

"Aww… sweetie. I didn't know you cared. But don't worry, you'll soon be gone from here. The Three don't want you near me anymore."

"The Three?"

"Century, Michaela, and Lucifer." At the last two names, Deliyyja pointed at the two lizards at her side.___Ah… so Michaela is the smaller of the two and Lucifer the larger. Male and female._

"Century…" Sara began, and then stopped. What was it that he had said?

"What about Century, Vættfang?"

"Why should I tell you anything? First you stick me in a suite of rooms that only you and Century can access; then you do something to Century, and he's suddenly not scared of me and he's able to kick my butt. And then you stick me with the crazy lizards for days." At the last sentence, Michaela growled, and her claws glowed red.

"Shh, Michaela. She's just venting. Being Vættfang, she is unused to such treatment." Deliyyja snickered, "But I, do something to Century? Whatever could you mean?"

"Don't you patronize me! There is no way that Century could have summoned those spells without your help! I measured his abilities when I met him, and what he did is not possible!" Her chest heaved as she glared at the woman standing over her. Deliyyja merely smiled again.

"Sara, if there's one thing I've learned about Century over the past ten years, it's to expect the unexpected. Impossible? Come now, even you must realize how ridiculous that sounds. Twelve years ago, I looked at you when Freya first brought you to the Valkyries and thought that same word. I thought it impossible that you'd ever become a full-fledged Valkyrie; yet here you are, a Valkyrie, are you not?"

"Yes, I am," Sara grumbled. "What's your point?"

"My point is, do not use the word impossible, because most often you will be proven wrong. Now, what did Century say to you during your encounter?" Lucifer padded over to Sara and stared down at her.___Great, crazy lizard is trying to intimidate me._ Sara glared at Lucifer before answering Deliyyja.

"He really didn't say too much; mainly just his spells. There was one thing that bothered me about as much as the spells, however…" Sara stopped and thought,___Do I really want to tell her this? But I suppose I must if I want to be able to leave._ Deliyyja waited for her to finish debating with herself.

"He called himself Sella. Who is Sella, Deliyyja? Why would Century call himself by that–"

"Shush!" Deliyyja cut her off quickly. And a little rudely, too, she thought wryly to herself. "Was this what She was talking about?" she murmured. Sara's ears perked up. Something was definitely up with Deliyyja.

"What did he look like during the fight?" Deliyyja asked suddenly.

"Oh, um… after he god mad, his eyes went from gold to black and his hair from that funky colored brown to black tipped with purple. It was weird. And uh, his magik for some reason increased." Sara slumped into her corner, "There… you happy now?"

Deliyyja thought for a moment, and then turned on her heel to leave. At the entrance to that room of the cave, she looked over her shoulder.

"Yes, quite. You may go now, Vættfang. Run off like a good girl after Fenris Fenrir," and Deliyyja left, with Michaela and Lucifer following her. As Michaela left behind Lucifer and Deliyyja, she looked slyly at Sara, and then blew out the torch that was the only light source for the room. Leaving the room in darkness, Sara believed that she could hear the lizard laughing at her as she walked out.

"You damn stupid lizards! I should've fried all your babies when I had the chance! A scorched tail was nothing!" Sara's answer was a blast of flame accompanied by the smelliest flatulence she'd ever smelled. She plugged her nose and dodged the fire, holding her breath so she didn't scorch her lungs with the heat. Stupid fire-breathing lizards. If Freya hadn't already given me an assignment…

There was no further answer to her comments or thoughts from any of the three leaving her. Soon, Sara could no longer even sense them in the area.  
.

* * *

Deliyyja walked back to her castle as if in a daze. Century was Sella? How as that possible? She needed to ask someone. 

"But who? Who won't go to Freya immediately after I leave?" she muttered to herself. Michaela and Lucifer looked up at her worriedly. It was not good for their mistress to be so distracted. She could be hurt again. Sensing their discomfort, Deliyyja smiled at them.

"It's alright. This is something I must do. The Norns have given me direction, and Sara gave me the clue I needed to start." She stopped suddenly. "That's it! I'll go see the Mystic. She'll know how to draw out Sella!" Michaela shivered next to her. To the lizards, the Mystic was strange and slightly creepy. They didn't like going to her house. Better for the birds to go.

"It's alright, it's alright," Deliyyja laughed again. "You don't have to come with me. Century will go with me as well as some of the birds. I'll take my knives also, just in case some of the forest creatures get any stupid ideas, okay?" Michaela snorted, hissed something that Deliyyja smiled at, and then turned golden. Soon, she grew brighter before she hissed something else low, and then violet wrapped around the light and she disappeared.

"Showoff. You do realize, Lucifer, that your mate is an enormous showoff, don't you? But then, you are perfectly matched to each other." Lucifer gave the equivalent of a lizard's grin and then trotted ahead. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh at me all you want. I still say that she was kidding!" She ran after him thinking, I hope you can help me wake Sella. I hope Century is Sella.


	14. Undone

_Author's Note: (Sob!) I must declare all of Ragnarok not mine! Sigh... but anyways, thanks all for the great reviews. I'm going to get Sara out of the cave next chapter, so any suggestions about what should happen with her or Deliyyja and Century would be greatly appreciated. I loved seeing all the new stories out there. Let's just try to get some new people in the mix with some fresh ideas now, and the Ragnarok section will get even better! Thanks again everyone, and enjoy!_

**Chapter 13: Undone**

Back at the castle, Deliyyja went straight to her suite of rooms. Inside she found Century still cleaning. She smiled. _He's not a maid. He's _supposed_ to be my bodyguard – I guess you could say he fulfilled that position with Sara, but still._

"Century, are you quite done yet?" Deliyyja's smile grew larger as Century jumped at her words.

"M– mistress! You're back already!" Century twisted his hands together nervously. He still wasn't quite able to believe that Deliyyja had forgiven him his lack of action with Freya and his impulsive actions with _Vættfang_.

"Yes, I am, Century," Deliyyja said gently. _The poor man has been beating himself up over so many things lately that were beyond his control._ "I told you earlier that if you told me what happened between yourself and Mistress Irine, that I would tell you of my dream, correct?"

"Y– yes, Mistress." Where was she going with this?

"The Norns came to me in my dream. They brought me the answer to a question that to me is worth my life. Their answer was, of course, cryptic, but after talking to _Vættfang_, I am reasonably sure as to how to make the answer a reality."

"What question did you need answered, Mistress? And how could it be worth so much to you?"

"The answer to both of your questions lies with what Freya did to me. You were not there, but as she was strangling me with magik, she was also placing a spell on me. The spell keeps me to this area of Jotunheim I believe. If I try to leave before the spell is lifted – which I must – I will suffer until I die. And when I say suffer, I mean in the most excruciating ways." Century gasped and moved forward as if to block such a thing from happening.

"You said you knew how to fix– remove the spell?" Century asked hopefully.

"I need to visit the Mystic to find out how to awaken an old friend. He is the only one who can help me find the counter-spell. Hellsteeth, he might _know_ the counter-spell!" Deliyyja went to Century and gave him a quick hug and then looked at him.

"You will help me, right? I have a feeling that this will need your strength." Century reddened briefly, then nodded.

"Of course, Msitress. I will help you in any way I can."

"Thank you, Century. Now go change; we leave for the Mystic's house in an hour. Bring a weapon or two with you." Century bowed and left the room. Deliyyja went to her bedroom and opened her closet. She retrieved another set of purple leather and stripped out of her ruined ones. Standing in her underwear, Deliyyja took her knives out of their holders. _Thank the gods they aren't ruined. It's so hard to find quality knives for myself these days. They always disintegrate when I try and put any magik in them_. She put the knives on the bedside table and sat down to pull on the other set of clothes. The new set of clothes were a little tight on Deliyyja and she grunted as she jerked on the pants until they were all the way on. The top was less of a problem because all Deliyyja had to do was put the looseams together and draw a line of lightning between them.

"Ugh… I should make my pants like this. It's so much easier to put on." She put the knives in their respective places and drew a lightning-covered hand over her outfit, charging it and causing it to glow slightly. Once she'd finished, she staggered slightly.

"Owww…" she put her hand to her head as a slight headache began. She sat down on her bed and rocked back and forth slightly, willing the headache away. She did this for several minutes before she felt well enough to take her hand from her head. The minute she did, however, the headache returned.

"Mistress, which weapon should– what's wrong?" Century had entered and stopped his sentence when he saw Deliyyja with her hand on her forehead.

"I'm fine. Just a small headache, that's all. It's almost gone now." She grimaced as the pain flared for an instant before receding. She held up her other hand before Century could move forward.

"Ahh… finally." She paused and smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Um… which weapon should I bring?" He held up a longsword in one hand and a short, double-sided spear in the other. Deliyyja considered the two before speaking.

"Bring the spear. You're faster with that one. I'll give you some knives also." She turned back to her closet to get the knives and heard Century gasp. She turned back to him only after getting the knives.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your braid." He pointed at her head and her hand went to her hair and felt that one of her braids was coming undone.

"That's what she did," Deliyyja whispered. "It wasn't to keep me in Jotunheim, it was a slow death for disobedience. She knows it'll kill me eventually if I can't find the spells to rebraid my hair."

"Find? What do you mean, _find_, Mistress?" Deliyyja didn't answer him for a minute as she was busy seeing how far the braiding had come undone. She sighed and walked into her bathroom.

"Freya told me that the spells the mages used to braid my hair are passed down from master to apprentice; there's no written record." Deliyyja spoke as she rifled through a drawer in the vanity, searching for something.

"Aha!" She held up a tiny wisp of thread she'd pulled from the drawer. She turned to Century and gave him the thread.

"Attack the thread, please," she said, ignoring the look of disbelief he gave her in response. She waved her hand at him when he remained silent, staring at her. He finally sighed, set the thread down on the floor and moved away. Century threw a minor spell at the thread and when it hit, the spell caused the thread to lengthen. He stopped and stared between the thread and Deliyyja. She motioned for him to continue and woodenly, he threw the same spell at the ever-lengthening thread until finally, Deliyyja told him to stop. The thread now covered a large part of the floor between them.

"Thank you, Century," she said as she bent and picked up the end of the string. Laying it at the point where her braid was coming undone, she whispered a spell so low that Century couldn't hear. The string began to wrap itself around the remaining hair, leaving none showing, until it reached about an inch at the end; the same length left as the other braids. It tied itself off within the spell, showing no actual beginning or end to the whole length. Looking at the binding, Century could see the shapes that formed wards for binding and protections, while still leaving her hair able to conduct electricity. Mixed in with those symbols was Century's own. He frowned at that.

"Mistress, I am confused. My symbol should not be present on this; it should be yours." He pointed to it as he spoke and Deliyyja brought the half-done braid around to her eyes. Looking at the symbols, she grinned.

"It's okay, Century. It'll work itself out. And if we can't do it, the Mystic'll help us. But we're running late. Let's go." She dropped the braid and walked off, Century gawking after her.

"Okay! What do you mean, 'okay' ? My magik isn't binding magik! Mistress! C'mon… what aren't you telling me about what you saw?" Century took off running after Deliyyja, wringing his hands anxiously as he ran, all the while pleading with her. Deliyyja just smiled to herself and continued walking.

"Hurry up Century, or I'll have to leave you here!" Deliyyja smirked at the reaction as Century's pace increased behind her, finally bringing him up to her. When he reached her, he grasped her arm, gasping for breath, ignoring the slight shocks that her outfit was giving him.

"Mistress Deliyyja... you are very, very mean!" Deliyyja's smirk died at Century's words.

"Century! How many times must I tell you? Do not call me that!"

"Yes, Mistress _Deliyyja_..." and Century took off running again, with Deliyyja chasing him, all the while yelling threats after his retreating back as he laughed at her.


	15. Soon

_Author's Note: I must disclaim any authorship in the manga series Ragnarok. It is with sorrow that I tell my readers this wink wink because I wish I could have come up with such a fun and diverse story. I hope you'll forgive me for not having put this up before, but crazy things happened, and I'd gotten kinda burned out of the writing thing. This one's very short, but I needed it as a prelude to the next chappie. If you've read the series, you should know what comes after this and before the next chapter. Enjoy and post reviews please!_

**Chapter 14: Soon**

Sara screamed at the sky as soon as she had managed to crawl out of the cave. It had taken her an excruciating two hours after Deliyyja and the damnedable lizards had left her in the dark. The first hour had been taken up by resting so that she could manage the simplest light spell. The next hour was spent crawling through the tunnels, trying to find the correct way out. She'd taken a wrong turn six times… _six times_!

"Unacceptable," me muttered to herself, throat raw from the screams. She lay back on the moss just outside the cave entrance and panted as she rested. She was so far behind schedule with tracking down the reincarnation of Balder and that Fenris Fenrir. She growled low to herself, clutching the sword hilt tightly.

A raindrop hit her forehead as she lay back, and she sat up, startled. She looked up to the sky as another one, then another fell.

"The gods have a funny sense of humor," she glowered, and crawled back into the cave, out of the rain. She half-sat just inside the mouth of the cave, watching as the rain fell, thinking on her mission. Freya would _not_ think it acceptable to be much longer detained. She needed to summon the frost giants soon, or Freya would assign someone else to take over. For the best summoning spell however, she would need at least a day's worth of rest; rest that she couldn't afford to have. Another spell would have to do. She stood up and stumbled back towards the rain, and whispered to the sky.

"_Iser kjemper, tilkalt ved brann…kommer til brannen_." The words floated away like a stream of leaves on the wind. Unlike most leaves in the rain, these looked as though on fire. She sat back down weakly to wait for the summons to yield results.

* * *

An odd sound awakened Sara. She looked around for a minute, confused before the events came back to her in a rush. Partially rested, she stood up easily this time and made her way outside. An icy breeze blew in her face and she raised her eyes towards the sky and waited. They would be here soon. Finally. Her blades rested across her lap, the wolf blade slightly withdrawn and sparkling in the twilight. Soon. 

Soon.


	16. Prelude to Fayon

**_Author's Note:_ **_Well here I go again, everybody. The next chapter is finally out, and much thanks go out to everybody who waited and reviewed. Special thanks to OneThatsHumanAndNot for special input. Again, I must disclaim any and all ownership of the Ragnarok series. If anybody's taking requests for Christmas gifts, I'd take that as mine. But until then... have fun, read, and **review review review!!**_

* * *

**Chapter 15: Prelude to Fayon**

Sara pushed the frost giants to travel faster. She needed – no, _would_ – reach the temple before Fenris Fenrir. She wanted to surprise the warlock when she arrived. It had taken too much time for Freya's servants to locate Fenris the first time, just to have her disappear for several days. When they'd next spotted her, they'd been able to determine her 'path' and future destination. Much to their relief. But then Deliyyja…

Sara glowered at the thought of the past days' events into the setting sun. If Deliyyja had cost her the meeting, she'd pay dearly. Maybe that little toy mage of hers, Century. Or those damnedable little lizards. Yes… those little lizards would do nicely barbequed for dinner, or just for the hell of it. A little shiver of anticipation went through her at the thought. Maybe she'd try for their obnoxious parents, too. Deliyyja would go mad without her pets. Thinking such happy thoughts to herself, Sara's grimace turned to a sly smile as she planned for the future. The disturbance at Deliyyja's had come and gone, and with it had come an opportunity for Sara – one she refused to miss.

Arriving at the temple of Fenris' destination, Sara surveyed the landscape with an impassive eye. Nothing so extraordinary that would make one think the sword of Balder was hidden here. Just some damned trees and fields surrounding the ruins of the ancient temple.

"Huh. Well… on to the waiting. But a few surprises for our dear friend first." Sara stretched out her hand and whispered to the stone gargoyles in the courtyard.

"H_visk liv til den stille, dreper den liv av å leving_." The power clustered into a sort of nest and spread small fingers of power to each gargoyle perched about the yard. One by one, each stone statue rose from it's position to converge on the nest. Each gargoyle stood as part of the circle, absorbing the power that the power-nest gave out to them. Sara watched them gather themselves together with a small, satisfied smile playing across her face. Turning away, she sent more runes into the sky, summoning more monsters as the 'welcoming party' for the reincarnated, reinvented wolf god, Fenris Fenrir.

* * *

"Whoops," Sara said from the air as she watched Fenris avoid the destruction of her frost giants. She hadn't meant to take them out, just take out that infernal warlock. Inside though, she was smiling. Her rune spell had been more powerful than she'd anticipated. She must be getting stronger just through this assignment that Freya had given her. Speaking of Freya…

"Aww, crap. Freya's not gonna be happy." She'd been so interested in seeing how well the warlock deserved her reputation that she'd forgotten momentarily the true purpose of her coming.

_The sword_.

She'd let Fenris almost just walk away with the sword in her hands, no opposition whatsoever. Great. That was really gonna push Freya's buttons the wrong way. Turning her attention once again to the spot that Fenris Fenrir had just recently vacated, Sara drew out several talismans. These she sent forth to search for the ever-elusive Fenris once again, knowing that eventually, one of them would find her, and eventually, that Fenris Fenrir would unknowingly lead Freya to Balder.

"I know we'll meet again, warlock. And next time, I'll send you straight to Hel!"

* * *

Red came from many places in Sara's mind as she slept, disturbing her dreams of her mother. She fought against the redness, denying the hold it was taking over her subconscious and over her body, as it reacted to the dreams and her breathing increased and tensed. After minutes of the invading redness, Sara woke up gasping to find Freya standing in front of her. Her hands were stretched out and red wisps of magik flowed from them, almost as small streams of shiny red powder was floating in the air. _Déjà vu_, Sara thought, thinking of what Deliyyja had gone through at Freya's hands only a week before.

"Oh, Sara," Freya said in a sing-song voice. Purposefully kept light, the goddess' voice brought shivers to her servant. Sara tried to stand and bow, but the magik wrapping itself around and in her kept her where she lay on the ground. Far from any normal punishment, Sara could feel the magik working inside her to some end, she didn't know what, and for the moment didn't want to. She wanted only to have Freya take the magik back.

"Goddess…" she whispered as loudly as she was allowed. Freya acknowledged the greeting with a narrowing of her eyes and looked over Sara's prostrate body.

"Sara." Freya's words stroked over Sara's body.

"_My dear_." The fingers tightened the spell infinitesimally, but enough for more pain.

"Was there some part of the assignment that you failed to understand? Did I leave out some _vital_ piece of information that was needed for your instruction? Or did the unthinkable happen that Fenris Fenrir defeated you in battle?" When Sara didn't answer, Freya's smile grew vicious.

"No… it's something else entirely. You talked so long about yourself and your _awesome_ power that you distracted yourself from the task. And of course the Wolf God was more than willing to take advantage of that and grab the sword while she could." She jerked her hand and Sara's head lurched up.

"So tell me, Sara Irine, was it a mistake on my part to grant your mother's dying wish to train you? She sent me that thought and wish so nicely, promising that you would be faithful to me. Have you betrayed her trust?" Tears were leaking from Sara's eyes slowly, as memories surfaced. She shook her head minutely and Freya let loose the magik holding her captive.

"Good girl. Now – _report_." Sara stood quickly, still half bowing and gave a summary of her encounter with the reincarnated Wolf God.

"All is not lost, Goddess. I have sent tracking talismans searching for her. Even as we speak, they are searching for the Wolf God, and unknowingly, she will deliver you Balder because of her own intents. You will have Balder's still body before long. Fenris Fenrir will betray her own love by finding him." Sara lifted her eyes to determine whether she had been forgiven her offense and found the goddess' eyes distracted by visions of finding and killing the new Balder.

"Clever enough, Sara Irine. We shall see, however, how your predictions turn out. Now a revised mission do I give you because the original has failed. Follow Fenris Fenrir. Should she be able to find Balder and reawaken his dormant spirit, contact me. Otherwise, you are to observe only unless discovered. One exception: _Fayon_. Do what you will with your father and that city. It is your right and deserved punishment for those who would have killed you after your mother. Only remember, _do not_ engage Fenris Fenrir or Balder's reincarnation. Report to me after Fayon is destroyed." Sara bowed to her mistress. She turned to leave, but Freya put a single hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, and Sara." Sara turned back quickly and bowed low anew.

"Yes, Mistress?" Sara enjoyed the light that came to the goddess' eyes.

"Have fun. Give your father my best."


	17. Dead Sara Day: Tickles and the Cancan

_Author's Note: Blah, blah, blah… we all know the drill. Who can tell me what webcomic the chapter title comes from? Anyone? … hello? Okay then, for all you who don't know, the phrase Dead Sara Day is a revised version of Megatokyo's Dead Piro Days. Anybody who hasn't read this comic should. The site is __ and it's one of the best webcomics out there. It's all about gamer boys, and fanboys and Japanese idols, etc. And ironically, Fred "Piro" – his wife is named Sara, and she's the voice of Piro's conscious in the comic._

**Dead Sara Day: Tickles and the Can-can**

Sara woke up and swore.

"Not again!! How in the Hells did I get back to Deliyyja's? I was _supposed_ to be going to Fayon!"

A face peeked into the room and Sara saw Century stick out his tongue at her.

"Nyah nyah! We got you back and you didn't even know!" Century's head disappeared, leaving Sara staring at the spot where it had been.

"_Didn't… even… know…!!_ Get back here you moron!!" Sara jumped to her feet and ran after Century. She threw opened the door and leapt out into the hallway.

And fell flat on her face.

"What the- ?!" Century's head popped into her view again.

"Heyyy… how's the birthday girl?"

"What the blazes are you talking about, fruitcake? It's not my birthday!" Century pouted at her and Sara gaped. Last time she'd met Century, he'd alternated between cowering and switching to his weird alter ego Sela. Where was this coming from?

"But, but… Mistress Deliyyja said that it was your birthday and that we needed to surprise you." A shoe came out of nowhere, hitting Century on the head.

"I told you! Never. Call. Me. Mistress. Deliyyja!" Century picked up shoe and hurled back in a random direction. The shoe bounced off a wall and hit something that was invisible. Deliyyja appeared, rubbing her head.

"You dork!" She jumped on both Century and Sara, tickling them. Century doubled over laughing, while Sara just lay there, still in shock. Pretty soon the sensation kicked in and Sara quaked with laughter herself. Deliyyja continued to tickle the two of them for another couple minutes before suddenly jumping back up and taking off down the corridor.

"Bwahaha ha ha ha!!"

Century lay on the floor where Deliyyja had left him, staring after the Valkyrie as she ran off laughing maniacally. Sara was still doubled over in laughter, the sensation of being tickled not having worn off yet. After a couple more minutes, she uncurled and stared in the same direction as Century.

"Umm… that was… different." Century muttered into the quiet. Sara stared at him, before nodding her head. Century's eyes widened.

"I think this is the first time we've agreed on something. Without killing each other."

Sara eyed him mischievously. She scooted towards him with a small smile on her lips and raised eyebrows.

"So, would you like me to try and kill you again? Maybe this time I can make it a little more pleasant than last try…" Century scuttled away from her in his hands and knees. He stood up and looked back down the hall hopefully.

"Actually, how's about we find Mistress Deliyyja and tickle her instead? That seems like proper payback for her antics. Um… how does that sound?" Sara's eyebrows raised again and this time she stood, too. She slowly walked to where Century was standing, rigid, swinging her hips as she went. She stopped right in front of him and trailed a finger down his face to his throat.

"Are you sure about that?" Sara wiggled a little.

Century laughed.

"What's so funny? Are you laughing at _me_? Ooohh!" Sara glared at him, but Century just continued to laugh. When Sara still didn't seem to understand, he pointed behind her and she turned to see. What met her eyes was a parody of their conversation being enacted by Vroa and Py and their brothers and sisters. Michaela and Lucifer were laying behind their offspring, lazily blowing rings of smoke for them to fly through. Sara stared at the picture of lizard domestics and started laughing hysterically. She took off down the hallway the same direction that Deliyyja had left in, leaving Century to try and figure out what had happened.

Pretty soon, after no sounds of battle or shouting came to his ears, Century ran down the hallway too. He came up to Sara and Deliyyja standing in the doorway of Deliyya's room. They were standing stock still, looking into the room. Century looked at the two of them again, trying to figure out what was bothering him.

"Are you… hugging?!" he shrieked at them. The looked over their shoulders at him, looked at each other, then jumped backwards.

"No!"

"No! Absolutely not!" they said in unison. Deliyyja looked like she was going to laugh again, and Sara looked like she'd been covered by fire ants.

"Eww! Gross, Century! How could you ever suggest that! We were just really terrified by what's in the room." They both pointed into the suite.

"Well, what is it? I can go kill it for you." Century offered, but received no answer. The two merely pointed into the room again. He crept over and looked to where they were pointing and shrieked again. The two girls smiled and nodded.

"Now you understand," they both said. The three of them peered into the room again as one. Inside, music blared from a stereo, a latin dance beat – and to that music was dancing… Freya. She wore a can-can dancing outfit, and was moving to the music. She looked over at Century's shriek, and shrugged when she saw them.

"What? I needed to practice."


	18. Crows and Cats

**_Author's Note:_**_ So I finally managed to get another chapter up. So very sorry for being so late. Once again, I must say that Ragnarok is not my creation, property, etc. etc. I just really like writing about the world, and adding a few new characters into it. I hope everybody likes this chapter, so please, if you read it - REVIEW!!!  
_

**Chapter 16: Crows and cats  
**

Fire followed Sara as she was flung by the crows away from Fayon. It singed her clothes and hair and she threw out a hand with a water spell that doused the flames quickly. She landed hard on the ground as the flames went out and grunted, then rolled over, cursing.

"Of all the gods' cursed…" She noticed another small section of flame trying to eat up more of her clothes and quickly squashed it.

"How in the nine hells did he summon a _dragon_? And not just any damned dragon… no, he had to summon _Nidhogg_… the greatest of dragons. Gods above and below…" She stood up, smacking at her clothes where the flames had been. She grimaced as she looked at the charred spots. Great, now she'd have to go and change before she could continue her task.

A light smattering of laughter echoed behind her, and she turned to see the crows still with her, in their human forms. She cocked an eyebrow at the pair.

"So what do they call you two? The Mischievous Meddlers?" The female-looking one laughed at her comment. She looked at her companion and shook her head.

"No, not quite. But we are messengers. And part of our message at the moment is that it would not have done to have you die. You are still needed for the strands of fate to unwind properly."

"Unwind _properly_? What's that supposed to mean?" The male-looking one shook his finger at her.

"None of that now. You should know that mortals aren't meant to know what the gods are planning. They just need to play their part."

"And just what _is_ my part?" Sara was beginning to lose her amusement at the ambiguous phrases. She started tapping her foot lightly against the ground. The woman laughed lightly as her partner grinned.

"Your part is to continue as you have been – being Mistress Sara Irine of the Valkyries."

"That's it? Just continue to be a Valkyrie? What's the catch?" But the woman was shaking her head at Sara.

"It would be best for you to continue your task appointed by Freya. She will forgive the small delay. She must, for you could not help it this time." The pair exchanged a look full of meaning and amusement. The woman's partner moved father away from the conversation, as if readying himself for something. Sara's gaze moved between the two of them.

"_Excuse me_? From what you're telling me, I should just go on my merry way and forget any of this just happened. Are you crazy? There's no way I could just go back to monitoring Fenris Fenrir and act like that Chaos person didn't just summon Nidhogg. I don't think so." She shook her head vehemently as she spoke. Her right hand strayed to her swords, unconsciously comforting herself.

"That is exactly what is expected of you. Enjoy your mission, Daughter of Fayon." The two messengers leapt into the air, turning into their crow forms as they did. Sara stared, aghast, as the two just flew off without answering her questions.

_Messengers and their secrets_, she muttered to herself. Looking around, she tried to figure out where she was. There was nothing that she could see that gave her any idea about what area of Midgard she was in. Or if she was even still _in_ Midgard. She sighed. Even if Freya decided not to notice the fact that Chaos had taken her off guard with the dragon, she still shouldn't waste any time getting back to where she needed to be. She took out a new talisman card and spoke the incantation to activate it.

"_Gir ørns vinger til jord. Vender tung tenne, og gir friheten._" As the talisman glowed red, eagle's wings grew from the earth to float t Sara's shoulders, lifting her off the ground. She murmured the spell that would allow her free movement to fly where she needed.

"_Valkyrie's Wind_!" She turned towards the south and flew, following the talisman that still followed the reincarnated wolf god.

* * *

Freya woke Sara again through her dreams. Sara was dreaming of her mother, and woke when her mother's face turned to that of the goddess. She sat up quickly, panting and sweating, hoping the change wasn't an omen, or something forgotten. As she sat, she heard a whisper on the wind.

"… _Sara… …Sara…_"

She listened very carefully once she'd heard the words echoing.

"Hello? Who is this?" she whispered back.

The goddess Freya appeared in front of her, mist swirling around the goddess as she appeared. Sara immediately prostrated herself in front of her.

"Mistress Freya. What a–" Sara's eyes went straight to the two creatures sitting by the goddess, one of her hands resting on each head.

"Cats, ma'am?" Freya smirked.

"What a cat indeed, Sara Irine. Have you met my precious pets yet? This is Bast," she said, indicating the enormous cat to her right. The cat stretched, and smiled, baring her fangs at Sara.

"And this is Virote," she said, gesturing to the other cat with her. Virote walked over to Sara, raised up on his hind legs, and flexed his claws in her face. Sara backed away hurriedly, flinching her face away from the animal. He turned and yowled to Bast and Freya. Bast yowled back in a silky voice and Freya smiled.

"How was Fayon, my dear?" This caused Sara to smile viciously.

"I said hello to Daddy for you, Mistress," she said with a nasty grin. Freya raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh? And was he happy to see his darling daughter?" There was a short burst of laughter from Sara.

"Oh, yes. He was ecstatic. He even gave me some sparkly magic to let me know how much he'd missed me." Freya gave a mock gasp.

"Awww… how kind of him, welcoming his daughter back to her hometown after ten years with magic…"

"It _was_ very pretty. I gave him some of my own back in return. I don't think he liked my gift, though. It wasn't quite as pretty as his was," Sara said as she made a face of mock-rejection. This caused Freya to laugh and her cats to purr.

"Clever girl." Freya frowned suddenly. "What's the matter? You seem to want to talk about something that happened." Sara nodded, not surprised by the perception of her mistress; she was a goddess after all.

"Yes, Mistress. There are two things, actually. One as regards my father and Fayon, and the other about the Norns and gods." Sara grimaced as she struggled as how to best approach each subject. Freya waited patiently for her to begin. Sara decided that she had just better go straight to the point.

"I have a half-sister. I met her briefly in Fayon along with Baldur's reincarnation. What are my orders concerning them?" Freya nodded at the information.

"We'll get to that. What was the other thing you wanted to discuss?"

"The Crows, Milady. The mentioned something about the threads of fate not being completely unwound into their proper future yet. That and they teleported me to somewhere in Midgard's desert. Uninvited may I add. What should I do the next time we meet?"

"The Crows are involved now, are they?" Freya looked thoughtful. Bast and Virote looked towards their mistress in concern. "I thought something was up." She looked to Sara again.

"What did they say? Anything of the outcome of this battle? Or who the other players will be?" Sara shook her head in regret.

"No, nothing. They asked me a few questions, then told me to continue just being myself, Valkyrie, and things would unravel as they should. They are very annoying, Mistress. Are you sure that I can't just get rid of them the next time they interfere?"

"No, no. The Crows are messengers of the gods, and demi-gods themselves. You'd only make them angry."

"Yes, Mistress. Have my orders changed?"

Freya considered Sara for a moment. Her youngest Valkyrie had indeed suffered set-backs lately, most uncommonly. Of course, she could not help the meddling of the gods, or that cursed Valkyrie Deliyyja.

"No, your orders haven't changed as regards Baldur's reincarnation or Fenris Fenrir. Continue to follow them. If they lead you to the Heart, take it from them." Freya smiled at the thought of having the Heart to bring Ragnarök about, signaling the beginning of her reign as Supreme Goddes.

"And my sister?" Sara ventured.

"Yes, your sister is an interesting case. Feel free to fight her, but do not kill her at present. She may be willing to turn Valkyrie like her elder sister. Or she may give interesting information if the price is right." Sara bowed, growing angry.

"But, ma'am, my sister doesn't deserve to live. She has done nothing that could excuse her continued existence. She is not strong." Sara said, vehemently.

"Hush! I said no killing your sister! You've been an excellent Valkryie, Sara, don't ruin it now by insubordination to your goddess," Freya said in a low, controlled voice. Bast and Virote left the goddess' side to circle around Sara. Sara stood perfectly still, not wanting to anger the giant cats.

"Yes, Mistress. But what of Nidhogg, Mistress? I had no idea that Baldur's reincarnation would be able to summon something so powerful. Especially since he does not know that he is Baldur yet. My spy talismans have found no surge in his mother's energies, which means that she hasn't tried to contact him yet. How is such a thing possible, Mistress?" Sara said quickly, diverting the conversation onto another topic less threatening to herself.

Bast prowled back over to Freya, growling. Freya rested her hand on the cat's head, stroking lightly.

"Yes, my dear. Nidhogg is disturbing. But don't worry, I won't let that great dragon eat you. I'll roast him for you when the time comes, and you can eat tender dragon-flesh for the rest of your life." Sara stood in the background as the goddess baby-talked to her cat about eating a dragon. Not exactly the oddest thing I've seen, she thought.

"Leave Nidhogg to me, Sara. You just concentrate on completing the assignment I gave you. If you do get a chance to get close to Sentinel Breeze, feel free to get it for me. But for the moment, you are not to kill them unless absolutely necessary." Virote left Sara and went back to his place at Freya's side. Freya smiled slightly at the cat, nodded at Sara, then disappeared into a golden-red haze, leaving the same way that she'd arrived. Sara slumped back down onto her bed. She had been lucky, again. The Mistress' temper was not to be toyed with, even unintentionally.

"I'm tired..."


End file.
